ZDC controller reported that existing procedures make it very difficult to handle pit arrivals trans...

Narrative:

Air carrier X was southbound on J53 at FL380. Air carrier Y; FL390; was northeast bound on a vector to meet the SOP restriction for aircraft landing pittsburgh. Off the vector; air carrier Y was descended to FL340 to miss two (point outs) aircraft from indy center at FL370 eastbound. Air carrier Y had to be descended quickly not to only miss the two aircraft at FL370; but to try and make the SOP restrictions. Obviously separation is paramount and our job to ensure. That being said; the fact that there is no LOA with washington center and atlanta center for pittsburgh landers is dangerous and unreasonable. As of now; atlanta can hand off an aircraft at FL410; landing pittsburgh; and we have about 40 miles to get the aircraft out of FL310 descending to FL290 to meet our restriction. This can be an issue with no other traffic; but throw in other traffic southwest bound; east bound; southeast bound from washington; indy and atlanta it can create potential for error. There is an LOA with other centers for aircraft landing just as far away as pittsburgh if not further. It would be a simple and painless correction for everybody. Pittsburgh aircraft cross the atlanta/washington center boundary at or below FL350 will be extremely helpful and safe.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDC Controller reported that existing procedures make it very difficult to handle PIT arrivals transferred at high altitudes; alleging that a procedural fix would not be difficult.

Narrative: Air Carrier X was southbound on J53 at FL380. Air Carrier Y; FL390; was northeast bound on a vector to meet the SOP restriction for aircraft landing Pittsburgh. Off the vector; Air Carrier Y was descended to FL340 to miss two (point outs) aircraft from Indy Center at FL370 eastbound. Air Carrier Y had to be descended quickly not to only miss the two aircraft at FL370; but to try and make the SOP restrictions. Obviously separation is paramount and our job to ensure. That being said; the fact that there is no LOA with Washington Center and Atlanta Center for Pittsburgh landers is dangerous and unreasonable. As of now; Atlanta can hand off an aircraft at FL410; landing Pittsburgh; and we have about 40 miles to get the aircraft out of FL310 descending to FL290 to meet our restriction. This can be an issue with no other traffic; but throw in other traffic southwest bound; east bound; southeast bound from Washington; Indy and Atlanta it can create potential for error. There is an LOA with other Centers for aircraft landing just as far away as Pittsburgh if not further. It would be a simple and painless correction for everybody. Pittsburgh aircraft cross the Atlanta/Washington Center boundary at or below FL350 will be extremely helpful and safe.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.

Attributes
ACN	987345
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZDC.ARTCC
State Reference	VA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types

ZDC controller reported that existing procedures make it very difficult to handle pit arrivals transferred at high altitudes; alleging that a procedural fix would not be difficult.