Narrative:

I was conducting OJT on the jfk final vector position. We were landing VOR/DME 22L; departing 22R and 31L. Yesterday had a large volume of VFR aircraft operating below and outside the class B airspace. The 22L final is contained to some very tight and complex airspace; requiring navigation around a class D; through different shelves of class B airspace; all while remaining clear of lga arrival/departure airspace and hpn. We were on position for over an hour with moderate to busy traffic; with VFR aircraft (mostly on 1200 codes) floating all around our final. At that time; the rober feeder position had switched us a crj on a northwest-bound heading level at 4;000; a few miles southeast of frg airport. I remember numerous VFR 1200 codes in the vicinity of the target; all of which were well below the crj. Suddenly; a 'splat' appeared on our scope at 4;000 less than 1/4 mile opposite direction to the crj at 4;000. Both my developmental and I saw it immediately. My developmental issued the crj a traffic alert and advised him to climb immediately. Please note; as I was responsible for the position; I had keyed up at the same time; but the developmental started talking; so I decided to let him continue as conflicting information would be confusing to the pilot in this imminent situation. The pilot quickly responded that he was following an RA and descended from 4;000 to approximately 2;500 within just a few sweeps. I believe the RA caused him to penetrate the frg class D. Thankfully there were no IFR aircraft in the pattern at frg (usually at 2;000 or 3;000) as he would have descended right into them. I later found out that he had descended at 4;000 FPM to avoid the aircraft and told the flm that he had never seen an aircraft that close in his flying career. We were both immediately relieved from the position. I then had an opportunity to learn where the VFR aircraft came from. He departed frg; remained below the 4;000 shelf of the bravo and called the rober position for advisories. In the midst of the pilot changing from 1200 to a discrete code; the mode C disappeared; and the pilot continued his VFR climb to the east. As he was being radar identified and showed back up on the scope; he was in direct conflict with the crj. It is not uncommon for the mode C to disappear in the midst of the code change. The reason this event occurred involves the congested airspace surrounding the VOR/DME 22L final into jfk. On any typical VMC day; that airspace can become flooded with VFR aircraft at frg; VFR helicopters transitioning from manhattan to the hamptons; and student pilots practicing below one of jfk's major arrival paths. The class bravo airspace to the northeast of jfk is not restrictive enough in relation to the volume of traffic moved into jfk. Additionally; FAA management and jfk tower; in collusion with the airlines; demand that we consistently use 22L for arrivals; despite prevailing winds; the enormous amount of VFR traffic in the immediate vicinity of the 22L final; and noise abatement procedures. Tmu management; and the airlines; prefer landing 22L so two departure runways can be used (22R and 31L). The result is our being forced to cram an inordinate amount of IFR arrivals to jfk into some very congested airspace; regardless of winds most of the time; and creating major noise pollution over long island so that the tower can have 2 departure runways. There was absolutely no reason to be on that runway yesterday as 13L/13R were aligned into the wind as well. Note that several other conflicts occurred in this training session with VFR and IFR aircraft arriving jfk; but not to the severely dangerous degree as to what is described above. Recommendation; the class B airspace around jfk; especially to the east and northeast; needs to be redesigned. Currently; it permits too many VFR aircraft to fly in dangerous proximity to the jfk 22L /22R final. Shelves need to be lowered from 3;000 ft to 1;500 or below to avoid constant conflicts with VFR aircraft and heavy jets. To the east; where this event happened; the shelf needs to be lowered over frg airport and possibly extended out to the east to protect the rober arrivals coming in from overseas. The VFR practice area over the captree bridge needs to be eliminated as VFR aircraft routinely climb directly into aircraft being vectored for jfk. FAA management needs to sit down and discuss runway selection at jfk as it pertains to safety. Although expediting traffic; with 2 departure runways; is important; it has consistently eroded the margin of safety. Runways 22L/22R were designed to be bad weather runways or used as an overflow only when landing 13L. They are now used nearly every day at jfk forcing airliners into close proximity of VFR traffic; many of which choose not to communicate with ATC.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: N90 Controller described a TCAS RA event involving a JFK arrival to Runway 22L and a VFR aircraft maneuvering just below Class B airspace; the reporter suggesting a number of airspace design changes along with airport runway usage adjustments.

Narrative: I was conducting OJT on the JFK Final Vector position. We were landing VOR/DME 22L; departing 22R and 31L. Yesterday had a large volume of VFR aircraft operating below and outside the Class B airspace. The 22L final is contained to some very tight and complex airspace; requiring navigation around a Class D; through different shelves of Class B airspace; all while remaining clear of LGA arrival/departure airspace and HPN. We were on position for over an hour with moderate to busy traffic; with VFR aircraft (mostly on 1200 codes) floating all around our final. At that time; the ROBER feeder position had switched us a CRJ on a northwest-bound heading level at 4;000; a few miles southeast of FRG airport. I remember numerous VFR 1200 codes in the vicinity of the target; all of which were well below the CRJ. Suddenly; a 'splat' appeared on our scope at 4;000 less than 1/4 mile opposite direction to the CRJ at 4;000. Both my developmental and I saw it immediately. My developmental issued the CRJ a traffic alert and advised him to climb immediately. Please note; as I was responsible for the position; I had keyed up at the same time; but the developmental started talking; so I decided to let him continue as conflicting information would be confusing to the pilot in this imminent situation. The pilot quickly responded that he was following an RA and descended from 4;000 to approximately 2;500 within just a few sweeps. I believe the RA caused him to penetrate the FRG Class D. Thankfully there were no IFR aircraft in the pattern at FRG (usually at 2;000 or 3;000) as he would have descended right into them. I later found out that he had descended at 4;000 FPM to avoid the aircraft and told the FLM that he had never seen an aircraft that close in his flying career. We were both immediately relieved from the position. I then had an opportunity to learn where the VFR aircraft came from. He departed FRG; remained below the 4;000 shelf of the Bravo and called the ROBER position for advisories. In the midst of the pilot changing from 1200 to a discrete code; the MODE C disappeared; and the pilot continued his VFR climb to the east. As he was being RADAR identified and showed back up on the scope; he was in direct conflict with the CRJ. It is not uncommon for the MODE C to disappear in the midst of the code change. The reason this event occurred involves the congested airspace surrounding the VOR/DME 22L final into JFK. On any typical VMC day; that airspace can become flooded with VFR aircraft at FRG; VFR helicopters transitioning from Manhattan to the Hamptons; and student pilots practicing below one of JFK's major arrival paths. The Class Bravo airspace to the northeast of JFK is not restrictive enough in relation to the volume of traffic moved into JFK. Additionally; FAA management and JFK Tower; in collusion with the airlines; demand that we consistently use 22L for arrivals; despite prevailing winds; the enormous amount of VFR traffic in the immediate vicinity of the 22L final; and noise abatement procedures. TMU management; and the airlines; prefer landing 22L so two departure runways can be used (22R and 31L). The result is our being forced to cram an inordinate amount of IFR arrivals to JFK into some very congested airspace; regardless of winds most of the time; and creating major noise pollution over Long Island so that the Tower can have 2 departure runways. There was absolutely no reason to be on that runway yesterday as 13L/13R were aligned into the wind as well. Note that several other conflicts occurred in this training session with VFR and IFR aircraft arriving JFK; but not to the severely dangerous degree as to what is described above. Recommendation; the Class B airspace around JFK; especially to the east and northeast; needs to be redesigned. Currently; it permits too many VFR aircraft to fly in dangerous proximity to the JFK 22L /22R final. Shelves need to be lowered from 3;000 FT to 1;500 or below to avoid constant conflicts with VFR aircraft and heavy jets. To the east; where this event happened; the shelf needs to be lowered over FRG airport and possibly extended out to the east to protect the ROBER arrivals coming in from overseas. The VFR practice area over the Captree Bridge needs to be eliminated as VFR aircraft routinely climb directly into aircraft being vectored for JFK. FAA Management needs to sit down and discuss runway selection at JFK as it pertains to safety. Although expediting traffic; with 2 departure runways; is important; it has consistently eroded the margin of safety. Runways 22L/22R were designed to be bad weather runways or used as an overflow only when landing 13L. They are now used nearly every day at JFK forcing airliners into close proximity of VFR traffic; many of which choose not to communicate with ATC.

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.