Narrative:

A piper cheyenne departed VFR; requesting his IFR [clearance]. After identifying the aircraft; a clearance was given and the cheyenne continued his climb out. About 9;000 ft MSL; the cheyenne called and requested to return to departure airport due to a 'pretty big fuel imbalance' and possible major fuel leak. He did not explicitly declare an emergency; however I felt as if the situation warranted it. I issued the cheyenne a direct clearance and pilot's discretion to 6;000 ft; and further advised him that turn direction was at his discretion. I then reissued the altimeter and verified he still had the latest weather. A developmental controller was sitting next to me awaiting his training session and I had him advise the flm of the situation; and that I declared an emergency for this situation. A few moments later the cheyenne asked to leave the frequency to call the landing airport and I approved his request. At this time the training team was ready to assume the r-side and I apprised the team of the situation and all traffic. I then moved to the d-position. The developmental was unable to raise the cheyenne upon further attempts and the aircraft began a descent and was lost on radar. From the d-position I called FSS and advised them of the situation and asked that they listen for the cheyenne on their radios for possible information. At this time I advised another flm that was in the area of the situation and he relayed the information to the first flm. A few moments later; another aircraft departed and upon questioning; they stated that they saw the cheyenne on the ground and back-taxiing on the runway.when I reported the incident to the flm and he heard that the cheyenne hadn't declared an emergency; it was like he tuned me out as if the fact that I felt it was an emergency didn't matter. I would suggest future emphasis on emergency situations in recurrent training for both flms and cpcs.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller declared an emergency when the aircraft indicated a fuel imbalance and requested a return to the departure airport. The reporter was later questioned regarding his actions.

Narrative: A Piper Cheyenne departed VFR; requesting his IFR [clearance]. After identifying the aircraft; a clearance was given and the Cheyenne continued his climb out. About 9;000 FT MSL; the Cheyenne called and requested to return to departure airport due to a 'pretty big fuel imbalance' and possible major fuel leak. He did not explicitly declare an emergency; however I felt as if the situation warranted it. I issued the Cheyenne a direct clearance and pilot's discretion to 6;000 FT; and further advised him that turn direction was at his discretion. I then reissued the altimeter and verified he still had the latest weather. A Developmental Controller was sitting next to me awaiting his training session and I had him advise the FLM of the situation; and that I declared an emergency for this situation. A few moments later the Cheyenne asked to leave the frequency to call the landing airport and I approved his request. At this time the training team was ready to assume the R-Side and I apprised the team of the situation and all traffic. I then moved to the D-position. The Developmental was unable to raise the Cheyenne upon further attempts and the aircraft began a descent and was lost on RADAR. From the D-position I called FSS and advised them of the situation and asked that they listen for the Cheyenne on their radios for possible information. At this time I advised another FLM that was in the area of the situation and he relayed the information to the first FLM. A few moments later; another aircraft departed and upon questioning; they stated that they saw the Cheyenne on the ground and back-taxiing on the runway.When I reported the incident to the FLM and he heard that the Cheyenne hadn't declared an emergency; it was like he tuned me out as if the fact that I felt it was an emergency didn't matter. I would suggest future emphasis on emergency situations in recurrent training for both FLMs and CPCs.

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.