Narrative:

I had just taken the south radar position from another controller. A F18 was descending on the 'chugach recovery.' this arrival is only used during military exercises once or twice a year. I had reviewed the arrival that morning. The arrival showed the way point abeam the anc departure course altitude at 6;000. I saw the F18 descending through 5;400 prior to that way point in conflict with a flight departing anc climbing to 4;000. My first instinct was to keep separation; so I assigned the F18 to stop his descent. The relieved controller doing overlap said the altitude was 5;500 and showed me a copy of the arrival with 5;500 penciled in. A very brief discussion ensued about the altitude. I re-examined the situation but the F18 was about to pass into the 2;200 MVA. Any climb I issued at that point would be moot before I even finished the transmission. I then told the F18 to continue descent via the chugach recovery which automatically makes the aircraft VFR after the way point in question in VMC conditions. Recommendation: the confusion about this way point altitude contributed to the response to a pilot deviation. The ids and paper at the position should all match and be current. This was not the case. Although I don't think it was the primary cause it sure didn't help the situation any. The map showed 6;000; had no text attached. This is still the case today. In retrospect; the F18 might not have been busting his altitude; he might have been leveling at 5;500 and just been 100 off. No way to tell.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A11 Controllers described an MVA infraction when an inappropriate altitude was assigned. It was noted the information provided at the position was confusing.

Narrative: I had just taken the south RADAR position from another Controller. A F18 was descending on the 'Chugach recovery.' This arrival is only used during military exercises once or twice a year. I had reviewed the arrival that morning. The arrival showed the way point abeam the ANC Departure course altitude at 6;000. I saw the F18 descending through 5;400 prior to that way point in conflict with a flight departing ANC climbing to 4;000. My first instinct was to keep separation; so I assigned the F18 to stop his descent. The relieved Controller doing overlap said the altitude was 5;500 and showed me a copy of the arrival with 5;500 penciled in. A very brief discussion ensued about the altitude. I re-examined the situation but the F18 was about to pass into the 2;200 MVA. Any climb I issued at that point would be moot before I even finished the transmission. I then told the F18 to continue descent via the Chugach recovery which automatically makes the aircraft VFR after the way point in question in VMC conditions. Recommendation: the confusion about this way point altitude contributed to the response to a pilot deviation. The IDS and paper at the position should all match and be current. This was not the case. Although I don't think it was the primary cause it sure didn't help the situation any. The map showed 6;000; had no text attached. This is still the case today. In retrospect; the F18 might not have been busting his altitude; he might have been leveling at 5;500 and just been 100 off. No way to tell.

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.