Narrative:

I was working the low radar associate; position. I happened to hear; via the shout line with miami approach departure sector; something about a possible scramble from homestead AFB. Shorty thereafter I looked at the radar screen to discover a aircraft X southbound out of miami approach in the vicinity of homestead. Further to the south of where the aircraft was is a warning area; W465A/B; that was scheduled to be active in about 5 minutes. I dropped the data block off of the scope since the location of the aircraft was within the area of the dta (departure transition area) from miami approach to miami center. A few minutes later I brought the data block back up on the scope and noticed it was still going southbound rather than turning westbound towards key west (eyw) and the airway to havana. It was also just a few miles from W465. I called the D26 controller and found they were coordinating with havana center. Not wanting to wait; I called the R26 controller who instructed me to call the d-side. I 'broke for control'; alerting them that something critical was forthcoming; and informed them that the delta flight was about to enter W465 airspace and we were showing it would be active in a few seconds. I could hear someone in the background ask if the warning area was going hot as I got off of that sector's override. Then I noticed the aircraft making a hard right turn. Though the aircraft entered the lateral confines of the military airspace; I was told that a 2;000 foot altitude block of the airspace was released by the military radar unit (tarpon) prior to the delta flight entering the airspace. Recommendation; we have the technology to automate the depiction of military airspace on all applicable controller scopes; and we have the requirements by the military 'desk' to: 1.) notify the areas of military activity; and then; 2.) 'activate the airspace' in the uret system. Our radar scopes have the capability of showing 4 different colors; including red and yellow (the others are green and white). Why don't we have a system whereby when the military desk 'activates' an airspace (with a future time frame); the outline of the airspace would suddenly appear on those affected scopes as 100% white. Then; 5 minutes prior to the actual activation time; the border would change from the color white to 100% yellow. Accordingly; when the activation time is now; the border color would change to 100% red.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZMA Controller witnessed a developing airspace incursion event involving restricted airspace; the reporter suggesting a color coded warning system be developed for all RADAR positions to preclude future incidents.

Narrative: I was working the Low RADAR Associate; position. I happened to hear; via the shout line with Miami Approach departure sector; something about a possible scramble from Homestead AFB. Shorty thereafter I looked at the RADAR screen to discover a Aircraft X Southbound out of Miami Approach in the vicinity of Homestead. Further to the South of where the aircraft was is a Warning Area; W465A/B; that was scheduled to be active in about 5 minutes. I dropped the Data Block off of the scope since the location of the aircraft was within the area of the DTA (Departure Transition Area) from Miami Approach to Miami Center. A few minutes later I brought the Data Block back up on the scope and noticed it was still going Southbound rather than turning Westbound towards Key West (EYW) and the airway to Havana. It was also just a few miles from W465. I called the D26 Controller and found they were coordinating with Havana Center. Not wanting to wait; I called the R26 Controller who instructed me to call the D-Side. I 'Broke for Control'; alerting them that something critical was forthcoming; and informed them that the Delta flight was about to enter W465 airspace and we were showing it would be active in a few seconds. I could hear someone in the background ask if the warning area was going hot as I got off of that sector's override. Then I noticed the aircraft making a hard right turn. Though the aircraft entered the lateral confines of the military airspace; I was told that a 2;000 foot altitude block of the airspace was released by the military RADAR unit (Tarpon) prior to the Delta flight entering the airspace. Recommendation; we have the technology to automate the depiction of military airspace on all applicable controller scopes; and we have the requirements by the military 'desk' to: 1.) notify the areas of military activity; and then; 2.) 'activate the airspace' in the URET system. Our RADAR scopes have the capability of showing 4 different colors; including RED and YELLOW (the others are green and white). Why don't we have a system whereby when the military desk 'activates' an airspace (with a future time frame); the outline of the airspace would suddenly appear on those affected scopes as 100% white. Then; 5 minutes prior to the actual activation time; the border would change from the color white to 100% yellow. Accordingly; when the activation time is now; the border color would change to 100% RED.

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.