Narrative:

I was working departure radar one at the time of the incident. I had been busy for some time with several departures; re-runs at ngu; and VFR pop-ups in my sector; not abnormal for the day and time. Traffic was beginning to slow. I took a radar handoff on a C177; from south feeder inbound to orf VFR. The scratch pad data indicated the aircraft was requesting runway 14; since the wind was out of the southeast. I allowed the aircraft to continue toward the airport on its own navigation. As the aircraft neared the airport; I released several departures off runway 23. When the C177 was approximately 5 miles from the field; I issued a turn to the east-northeast to keep the aircraft off the departure corridor. My intent was to put the aircraft east of the field for a left downwind entry to runway 14. As I issued the turn; a B737 became airborne off runway 23 climbing to 4;000 ft on runway heading. The C177 was directly on the departure corridor at 2;500 ft; now 3 miles in front of the B737; questioning my direction to turn; and still heading directly at the airport. I turned the C177 further to the east. The B737 checked on frequency approximately 1 mile off the departure end. I issued the B737 a turn to a heading of 300 degrees for traffic. I could hear the TCAS advising of traffic as the pilot responded. I then made traffic calls for both aircraft. The C177 reported the B737 in sight and I issued him a descent at the pilot's discretion. After the traffic call to the B737; he reported he was responding to a resolution advisory. I acknowledged this and advised the B737 pilot that traffic was now behind him and issued a climb to 7;000 ft. As the aircraft passed each other; they were approximately a half mile apart. The B737 aircraft was subsequently turned on course and switched to the south feeder controller. The C177 was vectored to a point northeast of orf; told to enter a left downwind for runway 14; and switched to the tower. Neither pilot issued a complaint on frequency. As soon as I was relieved; I advised the front line manager of what transpired reference the B737 resolution advisory. I later advised the same flm of my intentions to file this report and requested that I be permitted to see and hear both radar and audio recordings. Recommendation; don't depend on VFR GA pilots to respond to instructions in a timely manner if separation must be accomplished. If airborne aircraft will be in close proximity to departing traffic; issue departures an altitude restriction reference traffic before the aircraft departs.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ORF Controller described a TCAS RA event between a VFR arrival via own navigation and an IFR Air Carrier departure; the reporter indicating instructions were issued to both aircraft but that the VFR was slow in responding.

Narrative: I was working Departure RADAR One at the time of the incident. I had been busy for some time with several departures; re-runs at NGU; and VFR pop-ups in my sector; not abnormal for the day and time. Traffic was beginning to slow. I took a RADAR handoff on a C177; from South Feeder inbound to ORF VFR. The scratch pad data indicated the aircraft was requesting Runway 14; since the wind was out of the southeast. I allowed the aircraft to continue toward the airport on its own navigation. As the aircraft neared the airport; I released several departures off Runway 23. When the C177 was approximately 5 miles from the field; I issued a turn to the east-northeast to keep the aircraft off the departure corridor. My intent was to put the aircraft east of the field for a left downwind entry to Runway 14. As I issued the turn; a B737 became airborne off Runway 23 climbing to 4;000 FT on runway heading. The C177 was directly on the departure corridor at 2;500 FT; now 3 miles in front of the B737; questioning my direction to turn; and still heading directly at the airport. I turned the C177 further to the east. The B737 checked on frequency approximately 1 mile off the departure end. I issued the B737 a turn to a heading of 300 degrees for traffic. I could hear the TCAS advising of traffic as the pilot responded. I then made traffic calls for both aircraft. The C177 reported the B737 in sight and I issued him a descent at the pilot's discretion. After the traffic call to the B737; he reported he was responding to a resolution advisory. I acknowledged this and advised the B737 pilot that traffic was now behind him and issued a climb to 7;000 FT. As the aircraft passed each other; they were approximately a half mile apart. The B737 aircraft was subsequently turned on course and switched to the South Feeder Controller. The C177 was vectored to a point northeast of ORF; told to enter a left downwind for Runway 14; and switched to the Tower. Neither pilot issued a complaint on frequency. As soon as I was relieved; I advised the Front Line Manager of what transpired reference the B737 resolution advisory. I later advised the same FLM of my intentions to file this report and requested that I be permitted to see and hear both RADAR and audio recordings. Recommendation; don't depend on VFR GA pilots to respond to instructions in a timely manner if separation must be accomplished. If airborne aircraft will be in close proximity to departing traffic; issue departures an altitude restriction reference traffic before the aircraft departs.

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.