At 1828 EST, Sunday, November 30, 1997, in the New York TRACON, the Full Digital ARTS Display (FDAD) radarscope at the MUGZY position in the Newark Area (EWR) failed without warning during a very busy period. The MUGZY position works EWR satellite arrivals and departures and EWR Runway 11/29 traffic. The MUGZY controller was forced to place some arrival aircraft into airborne holding while simultaneously moving to an adjacent position to resume the operation. Technicians removed the stricken FDAD radarscope from the position and brought over a replacement FDAD. When the technicians plugged in the "new" display, it was discovered that THE REPLACEMENT FDAD DID NOT WORK! A second replacement FDAD became operational at approximately 1900 EST, and the operation returned to "normal". This is NOT the first time that a FDAD radarscope has failed without warning on an operational position with heavy traffic, nor is it the first time that a "replacement" FDAD radarscope did not work either.
If you experience ANY problems with your scopes, have your supervisor alert AF immediately. Please be as helpful as possible with the AF Technicians, and supply them with accurate and complete information. Note times and/or number of occurrences for transient problems. DO NOT CONTINUE TO WORK TRAFFIC ON A SCOPE THAT IS OPERATIONALLY UNUSABLE!! YOU, the Air Traffic Controller who is ACTUALLY WORKING THE TRAFFIC, are "responsible for determining on a day-to-day basis if the quality of [your] radar display and video display accuracy is satisfactory for ATC purposes." (FAA Order 7210.3M, 12-5-4.) If, for some reason, your Supervisor and/or Operations Manager tells you that you MUST work with a FDAD which is - in your professional opinion - OPERATIONALLY UNUSABLE, then dial up your Indirect Access (IA) line used for recording position relief briefings and declare that you are operating the position under the provisions of ARTICLE 65 of the FAA/NATCA Negotiated Contract!
IF YOU EXPERIENCE AN FDAD RADARSCOPE FAILURE, OR YOU DEEM THE DISPLAY TO BE OPERATIONALLY UNUSABLE, FILE AN UNSATISFACTORY CONDITION REPORT (UCR) IMMEDIATELY!! Also file a NASA ASRS report as well. If you have any questions about how to complete either of these forms, contact your area NATCA Safety Representative, or Brian Fallon, New York TRACON's NATCA Safety Representative. We MUST document these critical failures THOROUGHLY!!
Please remember that these problems are NOT due to poor maintenance!! The Airways Facilities technicians in the NY TRACON must be heralded for their efforts to keep this equipment up and running against all odds. This problem has been building for years, and a concerted effort to acquire new displays by NY TRACON Air Traffic and Airways Facilities management, NATCA and PASS has been on-going. Unfortunately, time is running out. Failures of the FDADs have increased exponentially during the last 30 months. Despite the heroic efforts of the AF Technicians to keep our equipment running in top shape, this trend is expected to continue, and worsen.
Here are some of the most common FDAD problems:
The entire FDAD project was conceived of as a stop-gap measure to replace the old worn-out Data Entry and Display Subsystem (DEDS) radar displays just long enough for the Terminal Advanced Automation System (TAAS) Sector Suites to be acquired. Of course, the entire AAS project was terminated a few years back, and its successor, the Standard Terminal Automation Radar System (STARS) is still in the process of being developed. However, a recent Congressionally mandated Human Factors Evaluation of the STARS Early Deployment Configuration (EDC) displays - a hybrid mix of the currently-in-use ARTS software and the new STARS hardware and software - discovered NINETY-EIGHT individual discrepancies. The Human Factors team is recommending to the FAA Administrator and Congress that the STARS radar displays be declared Operationally Unusable until such time as the Human Factors experts, in conjunction with NATCA, are able to accomplish further tests and prototyping in order to re-design the entire Computer-Human Interface (CHI) functionality of the system.
Be extremely cautious in handling your traffic, especially if you notice anything strange with your display. Keep your flight progress strips up-to-date at ALL times. Do NOT take more traffic than you can safely handle - work within your abilities and within your airspace. Don't "jam" the next sector, and always be ready to go into a hold with ALL of your traffic. There's no telling which scope will fail next, or when.
NOTE: If, for whatever reason, you do not have the time to file a UCR and a NASA ASRS report, then PLEASE at least call the NATCA Safety Office at (516) 683-2937. Leave a message on the answering machine with the details (Date & Time, Position, FDAD # (if known), etc.) of the incident. The NATCA Safety Office will complete the forms for you!
Keep SAFETY first!
Brian J. Fallon NATCA Safety Representative, NY TRACON Associate Editor, The NATCA Voice http://www.natcavoice.org