Narrative:

I was working LC1; controlling runway 19L and the east half of the iad class B airspace. There was scattered weather popping up all over the place and there was a level 5 cell about to shut down the approach to runways 19R; 19C and 19L. We were experiencing wind shear alerts and even had a microburst alert just before the incident; with pilots reporting 25 KTS quartering tailwinds down to touchdown. Pct had two final positions open and were planning to turn the operation around and land to the north. However; each final position tried to jam in one more south arrival under very adverse conditions. Air carrier Y was cleared for an approach to runway 19C with a level 5 cell directly ahead on about a two mile final. Air carrier X was turned in tight on a short left base visual approach to runway 19L in an apparent attempt to beat the weather. Air carrier X checked in with me on a 2.5 - 3.0 mile base leg and I issued him a landing clearance. Immediately after that; LC2 shouted out that air carrier Y was going around. I looked up at my racd and saw air carrier Y starting a left turn and at 2;100 ft heading into the final approach course for runway 19L and immediately canceled the approach clearance for air carrier X; who was at about the same altitude and climbed them to 3;000 ft. I left them on the base leg to pass behind air carrier Y; but there was a problem with this. Air carrier X was heading directly into the level 5 weather and requested a turn. I was boxed in by the weather and could only turn left toward air carrier Y; but luckily I had them both in sight. To further complicate things; the cab coordinator advised that air carrier Y was now climbing to 3;000 ft as well. My south easterly turn successfully diverged air carrier X from air carrier Y and I coordinated with final east a heading parallel to and laterally separated from air carrier Y. Although I had sufficient lateral separation; at final's insistence; I climbed air carrier X to 4;000 ft before giving the frequency change. Now that situation was taken care of; but final east turned air carrier X on about a 3.5 mile right base to runway 1R at 4;000 ft; again giving them a second 'slam-dunk.' this time they were much too high to complete the approach and I coordinated with final east for a right 360 and again separated them from air carrier Y; who was now on final to runway 1C. Both aircraft then landed uneventfully. First of all; pct routinely runs arrivals on approach directly into level 4/5/6 weather; apparently without concern for the extreme weather. They should not be doing this. Just because most pilots don't complain about it (probably because they don't have the fuel to hold and don't want to divert) doesn't mean the pilots want to fly into the weather. Holding at the outer fixes should begin before they have too many arrivals in the airspace and don't know what to do with them; which usually results in a departure stop until things get sorted out. Considering the seriously deteriorating weather conditions; the final controllers should not be running traffic like its VFR. Just because it's technically legal to have one on the ILS and the other cleared for the visual simultaneously; doesn't mean that it's a good idea; or even safe. In this case it was unsafe. The B757 on the ILS went around and; in trying to avoid the weather; turned into my arrival. If final is going to be running traffic into weather; they better use some good judgment and keep them spaced out so that the tower doesn't get caught between a rock and a hard place. While pct has tower wind readout at their positions; it seems they routinely ignore tailwind components; making for unsafe and unstabilized approaches. But there is something very important that I don't believe they have available to them; wind shear / micro burst display. So; when we are busy and things are [getting bad]; pct is not only driving the arrivals into heavy weather; but frequently into wind shear and micro bursts.I think that pct should somehow have the ability to see/receive the wind shear/micro burst alerts as they occur. Maybe then they might realize what an unsafe condition they are creating when they do this. If I'm not mistaken; in the iad/pct LOA; final should not turn the arrivals in until a seven mile final. They routinely cheat and sometimes ridiculously 'slam-dunk' aircraft on a 2 or 3 mile final. At a minimum; this thing must be coordinated.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: IAD Controller provided a detailed report regarding PCT's rushed attempt to sequence landing aircraft before a runway change; the reporter noting several events of vectoring aircraft into significant weather levels.

Narrative: I was working LC1; controlling Runway 19L and the east half of the IAD class B airspace. There was scattered weather popping up all over the place and there was a level 5 cell about to shut down the approach to Runways 19R; 19C and 19L. We were experiencing wind shear alerts and even had a microburst alert just before the incident; with pilots reporting 25 KTS quartering tailwinds down to touchdown. PCT had two Final positions open and were planning to turn the operation around and land to the North. However; each Final position tried to jam in one more south arrival under very adverse conditions. Air Carrier Y was cleared for an approach to Runway 19C with a level 5 cell directly ahead on about a two mile final. Air Carrier X was turned in tight on a short left base visual approach to Runway 19L in an apparent attempt to beat the weather. Air Carrier X checked in with me on a 2.5 - 3.0 mile base leg and I issued him a landing clearance. Immediately after that; LC2 shouted out that Air Carrier Y was going around. I looked up at my RACD and saw Air Carrier Y starting a left turn and at 2;100 FT heading into the final approach course for Runway 19L and immediately canceled the approach clearance for Air Carrier X; who was at about the same altitude and climbed them to 3;000 FT. I left them on the base leg to pass behind Air Carrier Y; but there was a problem with this. Air Carrier X was heading directly into the level 5 weather and requested a turn. I was boxed in by the weather and could only turn left toward Air Carrier Y; but luckily I had them both in sight. To further complicate things; the Cab Coordinator advised that Air Carrier Y was now climbing to 3;000 FT as well. My south easterly turn successfully diverged Air Carrier X from Air Carrier Y and I coordinated with Final East a heading parallel to and laterally separated from Air Carrier Y. Although I had sufficient lateral separation; at Final's insistence; I climbed Air Carrier X to 4;000 FT before giving the frequency change. Now that situation was taken care of; but Final East turned Air Carrier X on about a 3.5 mile right base to Runway 1R at 4;000 FT; again giving them a second 'slam-dunk.' This time they were much too high to complete the approach and I coordinated with Final East for a right 360 and again separated them from Air Carrier Y; who was now on final to Runway 1C. Both aircraft then landed uneventfully. First of all; PCT routinely runs arrivals on approach directly into level 4/5/6 weather; apparently without concern for the extreme weather. They should not be doing this. Just because most pilots don't complain about it (probably because they don't have the fuel to hold and don't want to divert) doesn't mean the pilots want to fly into the weather. Holding at the outer fixes should begin before they have too many arrivals in the airspace and don't know what to do with them; which usually results in a departure stop until things get sorted out. Considering the seriously deteriorating weather conditions; the Final controllers should not be running traffic like its VFR. Just because it's technically legal to have one on the ILS and the other cleared for the visual simultaneously; doesn't mean that it's a good idea; or even safe. In this case it was unsafe. The B757 on the ILS went around and; in trying to avoid the weather; turned into my arrival. If Final is going to be running traffic into weather; they better use some good judgment and keep them spaced out so that the Tower doesn't get caught between a rock and a hard place. While PCT has Tower wind readout at their positions; it seems they routinely ignore tailwind components; making for unsafe and unstabilized approaches. But there is something very important that I don't believe they have available to them; wind shear / micro burst display. So; when we are busy and things are [getting bad]; PCT is not only driving the arrivals into heavy weather; but frequently into wind shear and micro bursts.I think that PCT should somehow have the ability to see/receive the wind shear/micro burst alerts as they occur. Maybe then they might realize what an unsafe condition they are creating when they do this. If I'm not mistaken; in the IAD/PCT LOA; Final should not turn the arrivals in until a seven mile final. They routinely cheat and sometimes ridiculously 'slam-dunk' aircraft on a 2 or 3 mile final. At a minimum; this thing must be coordinated.

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.