Narrative:

I was working approximately 6 aircraft and quick looking the radar south position. Because there were several inbound aircraft from the west, I had approved a couple of pointouts descending into mht. The air taxi was en route descending to cross 7 DME northwest of the lwm VOR to maintain 5000'. I had an small aircraft heading northeast bound at 5000'. There were a lot of data tags and chatter, calls coming over the landlines, and coordination in the background because of the south positions traffic. When I noticed the air taxi (approximately 170 degree heading) at 5500' descending to 5000', passing over the small aircraft at 5000' (heading approximately 060 degrees), told the air taxi to maintain 5000' because they were already passing and diverging. No further actions were needed since the aircraft were already clear. Quick looking the south radar was a distraction from my traffic and I missed the conflict on my scan of the traffic due to the numbers of data tags on the scope. I believe that if I had only readouts on the tags of the aircraft that I had approved pointouts on, my scope would not have been so cluttered with tags and the confliction would have been seen in advance and in enough time to avoid the loss of required sep.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ATX WAS GIVEN A DESCENT TO AN ALT OCCUPIED BY ANOTHER ACFT.

Narrative: I WAS WORKING APPROX 6 ACFT AND QUICK LOOKING THE RADAR S POS. BECAUSE THERE WERE SEVERAL INBND ACFT FROM THE W, I HAD APPROVED A COUPLE OF POINTOUTS DSNDING INTO MHT. THE AIR TAXI WAS ENRTE DSNDING TO CROSS 7 DME NW OF THE LWM VOR TO MAINTAIN 5000'. I HAD AN SMA HDG NE BOUND AT 5000'. THERE WERE A LOT OF DATA TAGS AND CHATTER, CALLS COMING OVER THE LANDLINES, AND COORD IN THE BACKGROUND BECAUSE OF THE S POSITIONS TFC. WHEN I NOTICED THE AIR TAXI (APPROX 170 DEG HDG) AT 5500' DSNDING TO 5000', PASSING OVER THE SMA AT 5000' (HDG APPROX 060 DEGS), TOLD THE AIR TAXI TO MAINTAIN 5000' BECAUSE THEY WERE ALREADY PASSING AND DIVERGING. NO FURTHER ACTIONS WERE NEEDED SINCE THE ACFT WERE ALREADY CLR. QUICK LOOKING THE S RADAR WAS A DISTR FROM MY TFC AND I MISSED THE CONFLICT ON MY SCAN OF THE TFC DUE TO THE NUMBERS OF DATA TAGS ON THE SCOPE. I BELIEVE THAT IF I HAD ONLY READOUTS ON THE TAGS OF THE ACFT THAT I HAD APPROVED POINTOUTS ON, MY SCOPE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO CLUTTERED WITH TAGS AND THE CONFLICTION WOULD HAVE BEEN SEEN IN ADVANCE AND IN ENOUGH TIME TO AVOID THE LOSS OF REQUIRED SEP.

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.