Narrative:

At approximately XA30L, an small transport was handed off to our sector (pwl, 06). I had been cleared to 6000' from flight levels on a routing from dny direct valre V157 haarp westchester. An large transport from bos to lga routed ign V157 lga had already been cleared to cross valre at 10000'. The trnee that I was monitoring at the time recognized the potential confliction and instructed the small transport to increase his rate of descent and then issued a vector to parallel the large transport. Other traffic diverted our attention and when we looked back sep had been lost. They passed at 3.5 mi, same altitude. I feel 2 things contributed to this error. 1) the overall heavy training load and understaffing. Specifically we were training in both the radar and manual position and in the radar position at the sector adjacent to ours and, 2) procedurally, having both aircraft routed over the same arrival fix going to different airports both descending. To prevent this from happening again they should get more controllers (bet you haven't heard that before) and change the arrival fixes.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RADAR SEPARATION LOST BETWEEN SMT AND LGT DURING DESCENT. CTLR ACTIONS INSUFFICIENT. OPERATIONAL ERROR.

Narrative: AT APPROX XA30L, AN SMT WAS HANDED OFF TO OUR SECTOR (PWL, 06). I HAD BEEN CLRED TO 6000' FROM FLT LEVELS ON A ROUTING FROM DNY DIRECT VALRE V157 HAARP WESTCHESTER. AN LGT FROM BOS TO LGA ROUTED IGN V157 LGA HAD ALREADY BEEN CLRED TO CROSS VALRE AT 10000'. THE TRNEE THAT I WAS MONITORING AT THE TIME RECOGNIZED THE POTENTIAL CONFLICTION AND INSTRUCTED THE SMT TO INCREASE HIS RATE OF DSCNT AND THEN ISSUED A VECTOR TO PARALLEL THE LGT. OTHER TFC DIVERTED OUR ATTN AND WHEN WE LOOKED BACK SEP HAD BEEN LOST. THEY PASSED AT 3.5 MI, SAME ALT. I FEEL 2 THINGS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS ERROR. 1) THE OVERALL HEAVY TRNING LOAD AND UNDERSTAFFING. SPECIFICALLY WE WERE TRNING IN BOTH THE RADAR AND MANUAL POS AND IN THE RADAR POS AT THE SECTOR ADJACENT TO OURS AND, 2) PROCEDURALLY, HAVING BOTH ACFT ROUTED OVER THE SAME ARR FIX GOING TO DIFFERENT ARPTS BOTH DSNDING. TO PREVENT THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN THEY SHOULD GET MORE CTLRS (BET YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THAT BEFORE) AND CHANGE THE ARR FIXES.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 2007 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.