Enroute controller described a very busy/complex traffic period during the transition from darc to h...

Narrative:

I was working the d-side immediately after a session on the r-side where we came out of darc. An A319 entered sector X's airspace at FL370 around the time where we were transitioning back to host from darc. We don't believe a flight plan was entered into the computer by that sector; but had found a hand written sheet with its flight information. When the A319 was within the eastern 15 miles of our sector; the data block of a second air carrier acquired on its track and the neighboring ARTCC immediately took the hand off. We saw the swap take place; as the data block jumped approximately 70 miles. After asking the second air carrier to identify; we confirmed the flight was just east of the VOR. I went through our strips and did not find a strip on the A319; so I called the originating ARTCC and asked them to look up the code; they still had it in their system; and they passed flight information. We believe that the A319 was never on our frequency. I was able to reach the A319 on guard and confirmed with an identify that the flight was in fact the same code that the other air carrier had tracked-up on. Recommendation; I believe that the fatigue of the midnight shift and complications with the transition from darc to host contributed to this situation. I am not sure what caused the data blocks to swap or acquire at such a far distance; I have never seen anything like that.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller described a very busy/complex traffic period during the transition from DARC to HOST that resulted in an unexpected data block jump/swap that confused all involved.

Narrative: I was working the D-Side immediately after a session on the R-Side where we came out of DARC. An A319 entered Sector X's airspace at FL370 around the time where we were transitioning back to HOST from DARC. We don't believe a flight plan was entered into the computer by that sector; but had found a hand written sheet with its flight information. When the A319 was within the eastern 15 miles of our sector; the Data Block of a second Air Carrier acquired on its track and the neighboring ARTCC immediately took the hand off. We saw the swap take place; as the data block jumped approximately 70 miles. After asking the second Air Carrier to IDENT; we confirmed the flight was just east of the VOR. I went through our strips and did not find a strip on the A319; so I called the originating ARTCC and asked them to look up the code; they still had it in their system; and they passed flight information. We believe that the A319 was never on our frequency. I was able to reach the A319 on guard and confirmed with an IDENT that the flight was in fact the same code that the other Air Carrier had tracked-up on. Recommendation; I believe that the fatigue of the midnight shift and complications with the transition from DARC to HOST contributed to this situation. I am not sure what caused the data blocks to swap or acquire at such a far distance; I have never seen anything like that.

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.

Attributes
ACN	952560
Time
Date	201106
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	A319
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Person 2
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

Enroute controller described a very busy/complex traffic period during the transition from darc to host that resulted in an unexpected data block jump/swap that confused all involved.