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TRACON controller described a MVA violation immediately after assuming the position; distracted by frequency issues resulting from position configuration/s; the reporter indicating the relief should have been delayed temporarily.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 974526 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201110 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Vectors |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Departure Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
I was relieving another controller. Prior to accepting the position he descended an aircraft to 2;700. The aircraft was being vectored for an approach to a satellite airport. The aircraft was approaching the edge of our MVA that goes up to 3;000. I figured I had enough time to turn the aircraft before it got to that border. Unfortunately after sitting down there was a problem with the frequencies. We had just split off another sector and the frequencies had not been configured properly. Then there was a question about a radar outage that diverted my attention to our ids display instead of watching the scope. By the time this was over the aircraft had already went beyond the 2;500 MVA and into the 3;000 MVA. I immediately turned the aircraft back toward the lower MVA but did not climb the aircraft back to 3;000. Recommendation; I will never accept a position again until all issues have been worked out. In this case I should have stepped away until the frequency issue was cleared up and allowed the previous controller to turn the aircraft onto the approach.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: TRACON Controller described a MVA violation immediately after assuming the position; distracted by frequency issues resulting from position configuration/s; the reporter indicating the relief should have been delayed temporarily.
Narrative: I was relieving another controller. Prior to accepting the position he descended an aircraft to 2;700. The aircraft was being vectored for an approach to a satellite airport. The aircraft was approaching the edge of our MVA that goes up to 3;000. I figured I had enough time to turn the aircraft before it got to that border. Unfortunately after sitting down there was a problem with the frequencies. We had just split off another sector and the frequencies had not been configured properly. Then there was a question about a RADAR outage that diverted my attention to our IDS display instead of watching the scope. By the time this was over the aircraft had already went beyond the 2;500 MVA and into the 3;000 MVA. I immediately turned the aircraft back toward the lower MVA but did not climb the aircraft back to 3;000. Recommendation; I will never accept a position again until all issues have been worked out. In this case I should have stepped away until the frequency issue was cleared up and allowed the previous controller to turn the aircraft onto the approach.
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.