Narrative:

A helicopter was on the ILS runway 6 approach. The helicopter was on an IFR flight plan because of poor weather conditions i.e. Heavy rain and wind gusts exceeding 30kts etc. When the helicopter checked in I gave him the wind; cleared him to land; and issued him pilot reports of turbulence and wind shear on final. I noticed the helicopter was off course and appeared to be too high to make the approach. I asked him if he was able to rejoin the approach and he advised he was unable. I told him to execute the published missed approach; except maintain 2;000; normally the missed approach for ILS runway 6 is climb to 1;000 then climbing left turn to 2;500 on R-335 to int and hold. I told the helicopter to maintain 2;000 because [another airport] was on the ILS runway 13 approach which cuts right across our departure path at 3;000 descending. While I gave the helicopter these instructions; the controller in charge was coordinating alternate instructions with the departure controller to turn left heading 360 maintain 2;000; which I then issued to the helicopter. The helicopter did not maintain 2;000. His altitude indicated 2;100 and he continued to climb. I told him several times to maintain 2;000 and gave him the current altimeter. Every time I told the helicopter to maintain 2;000 he would just respond 'we're doing it' or something like that. He became a conflict with traffic on the ILS approach; a B757 descending out of 3;000. I gave the helicopter a cautionary wake turbulence advisory and issued the traffic and told him to descend to 2;000; I think by this time his altitude indicated about 2;400. The helicopter and the B757 were on diverging courses. After the conflict was resolved and I observed the helicopter was descending I switched him to departure. Recommendation; I think the missed approach procedure for the ILS runway 6 approach should be reviewed. It may help if the aircraft are capped at 2;000 instead of 2;500 to help prevent any confusion regardless of what approach is in use. Also; in the past few months there has been some confusion among the controllers about this missed approach procedure. A few months ago the VOR was OTS for maintenance and we were given a briefing informing us that while the VOR was down; for a missed approach tell the aircraft; 'fly the missed approach; except maintain 2;000.' the confusion is that some controllers are under the impression that we still need to issue the 'except maintain 2;000;' and other controllers are under the impression that we were only supposed to do this while the VOR was OTS. My concern is that we are supposed to issue it for every ILS 6 missed approach and that someone may not thinking it was only during the VOR maintenance a few months ago. If in fact we are supposed to still be issuing 'except maintain 2;000' then I think the approach charts should be changed or updated.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Controller described a possible conflict between traffic on the ILS Runway 6 approach executing a missed approach and traffic on the ILS for another airport. Confusion exists regarding the altitude for the missed procedure.

Narrative: A helicopter was on the ILS Runway 6 approach. The helicopter was on an IFR flight plan because of poor weather conditions i.e. heavy rain and wind gusts exceeding 30kts etc. When the helicopter checked in I gave him the wind; cleared him to land; and issued him pilot reports of turbulence and wind shear on final. I noticed the helicopter was off course and appeared to be too high to make the approach. I asked him if he was able to rejoin the approach and he advised he was unable. I told him to execute the published missed approach; except maintain 2;000; normally the missed approach for ILS Runway 6 is climb to 1;000 then climbing left turn to 2;500 on R-335 to INT and hold. I told the helicopter to maintain 2;000 because [another airport] was on the ILS Runway 13 approach which cuts right across our departure path at 3;000 descending. While I gave the helicopter these instructions; the CIC was coordinating alternate instructions with the Departure Controller to turn left heading 360 maintain 2;000; which I then issued to the helicopter. The helicopter did not maintain 2;000. His altitude indicated 2;100 and he continued to climb. I told him several times to maintain 2;000 and gave him the current altimeter. Every time I told the helicopter to maintain 2;000 he would just respond 'we're doing it' or something like that. He became a conflict with traffic on the ILS approach; a B757 descending out of 3;000. I gave the helicopter a cautionary wake turbulence advisory and issued the traffic and told him to descend to 2;000; I think by this time his altitude indicated about 2;400. The helicopter and the B757 were on diverging courses. After the conflict was resolved and I observed the helicopter was descending I switched him to Departure. Recommendation; I think the missed approach procedure for the ILS Runway 6 approach should be reviewed. It may help if the aircraft are capped at 2;000 instead of 2;500 to help prevent any confusion regardless of what approach is in use. Also; in the past few months there has been some confusion among the controllers about this missed approach procedure. A few months ago the VOR was OTS for maintenance and we were given a briefing informing us that while the VOR was down; for a missed approach tell the aircraft; 'fly the missed approach; EXCEPT maintain 2;000.' The confusion is that some controllers are under the impression that we still need to issue the 'EXCEPT maintain 2;000;' and other controllers are under the impression that we were only supposed to do this while the VOR was OTS. My concern is that we are supposed to issue it for every ILS 6 missed approach and that someone may not thinking it was only during the VOR maintenance a few months ago. If in fact we are supposed to still be issuing 'EXCEPT maintain 2;000' then I think the approach charts should be changed or updated.

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.