<< >> NASA ASRS Report 933577, January 2011

TRACON controller declared an emergency for an aircraft that could not maintain assigned altitude; required separation was lost after the emergency declaration.

Attributes
ACN	933577
Time
Date	201101
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Cessna Aircraft Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Phase	Climb
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance

Narrative:

There was a cessna 3 miles in front of the C172. The first cessna was out of 7;000 for 8;000 and the C172 was assigned 6;000. The C172 asked for 8;000 and was told to stand by. I noticed the C172 climbing unsolicited and he insisted he needed 8;000. I declared an emergency for the aircraft since he was not able to maintain his assigned altitude. I called traffic for the C172 reference the aircraft he was overtaking. The C172 did not report the traffic in sight; so I turned the C172 away from the traffic. It took three commands before the C172 complied with the control instructions. I estimate the closest the C172 and the other cessna came was 1/4 mile and 0 ft. The C172 never saw the preceding cessna. Recommendation; educate the C172 on the importance of complying with control instructions.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller declared an emergency for an aircraft that could not maintain assigned altitude; required separation was lost after the emergency declaration.

Narrative: There was a Cessna 3 miles in front of the C172. The first Cessna was out of 7;000 for 8;000 and the C172 was assigned 6;000. The C172 asked for 8;000 and was told to stand by. I noticed the C172 climbing unsolicited and he insisted he needed 8;000. I declared an emergency for the aircraft since he was not able to maintain his assigned altitude. I called traffic for the C172 reference the aircraft he was overtaking. The C172 did not report the traffic in sight; so I turned the C172 away from the traffic. It took three commands before the C172 complied with the control instructions. I estimate the closest the C172 and the other Cessna came was 1/4 mile and 0 FT. The C172 never saw the preceding Cessna. Recommendation; educate the C172 on the importance of complying with control instructions.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.