Less than standard separation between air carrier X and Y.

Attributes
ACN	125502
Time
Date	198910
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : ign
State Reference	NY
Altitude	msl bound lower : 22000 msl bound upper : 22000
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Dusk
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zbw
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 4 controller radar : 8
ASRS Report	125502
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : airborne less severe non adherence : published procedure non adherence : required legal separation
Independent Detector	atc equipment other atc equipment : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : detected after the fact
Consequence	faa : investigated
Miss Distance	horizontal : 95000
Supplementary
Primary Problem	ATC Human Performance
Air Traffic Incident	Operational Error

Narrative:

Air carrier X was cleared out of a hold at ign direct to mad on an alternate route to jfk at FL220. Air carrier Y had been cleared to climb to FL310 and cleared direct to sax. Approximately 10 mi east of ign the 2 aircraft passed at FL220 3.25 mi apart. Contributing to this error was the lack of foresight at the traffic management unit (tmu) leading to my holding 5 aircraft to jfk at ign and the subsequent confusion on what to do with these aircraft. Interesting to note that air carrier X was reclred after the error back to his original route. Also, a very inexperienced manual controller (qualified less than a week at the position) was the help I was getting.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LESS THAN STANDARD SEPARATION BETWEEN ACR X AND Y.

Narrative: ACR X WAS CLRED OUT OF A HOLD AT IGN DIRECT TO MAD ON AN ALTERNATE ROUTE TO JFK AT FL220. ACR Y HAD BEEN CLRED TO CLIMB TO FL310 AND CLRED DIRECT TO SAX. APPROX 10 MI E OF IGN THE 2 ACFT PASSED AT FL220 3.25 MI APART. CONTRIBUTING TO THIS ERROR WAS THE LACK OF FORESIGHT AT THE TFC MGMNT UNIT (TMU) LEADING TO MY HOLDING 5 ACFT TO JFK AT IGN AND THE SUBSEQUENT CONFUSION ON WHAT TO DO WITH THESE ACFT. INTERESTING TO NOTE THAT ACR X WAS RECLRED AFTER THE ERROR BACK TO HIS ORIGINAL ROUTE. ALSO, A VERY INEXPERIENCED MANUAL CTLR (QUALIFIED LESS THAN A WEEK AT THE POSITION) WAS THE HELP I WAS GETTING.

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.