A trainee controller and their instructor forgot to keep track of an aircraft whose transponder did ...

Narrative:

I was working north/south radar at msy as OJT instructor. My trainee was very busy with an arrival sequence into nbg. In the middle of trying to sort all of that out he released an IFR helicopter off of gao. The aircraft called on departure and was told to identify and to maintain 4;000 feet. The helicopter never squawked the correct code and proceeded on course while climbing to 4;000 feet. Aircraft X called back once and was mistaken as [an aircraft with a similar call sign] and told to stand by as we were still very busy with the complexity at nbg. Aircraft X called a second time and was issued the correct squawk code which was readback. While trying to ensure the separation at nbg neither of us got back to the helicopter and he proceeded into offshore (ZHU) airspace up to 4;000 feet. The helicopter asked for a frequency and we issued the correct frequency believing the data tag may have been dropped by mistake. [Recommend] possibly having the radar position split off; but in this case there wasn't really time to do so. Personally; putting a 'rls' tag on the airport where the IFR release was given may have helped as a reminder to get back to him.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Trainee Controller and their Instructor forgot to keep track of an aircraft whose transponder did not appear on their radar display. The aircraft entered the adjacent facility airspace without coordination.

Narrative: I was working North/South Radar at MSY as OJT Instructor. My trainee was very busy with an arrival sequence into NBG. In the middle of trying to sort all of that out he released an IFR helicopter off of GAO. The aircraft called on departure and was told to IDENT and to maintain 4;000 feet. The helicopter never squawked the correct code and proceeded on course while climbing to 4;000 feet. Aircraft X called back once and was mistaken as [an aircraft with a similar call sign] and told to stand by as we were still very busy with the complexity at NBG. Aircraft X called a second time and was issued the correct squawk code which was readback. While trying to ensure the separation at NBG neither of us got back to the helicopter and he proceeded into OFFSHORE (ZHU) airspace up to 4;000 feet. The helicopter asked for a frequency and we issued the correct frequency believing the data tag may have been dropped by mistake. [Recommend] possibly having the Radar Position split off; but in this case there wasn't really time to do so. Personally; putting a 'RLS' tag on the airport where the IFR release was given may have helped as a reminder to get back to him.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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	1370060
Time
Date	201607
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	MSY.TRACON
State Reference	LA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Helicopter
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach Instructor
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1.5
Person 2
Function	Trainee Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Airspace Violation All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A trainee controller and their instructor forgot to keep track of an aircraft whose transponder did not appear on their radar display. The aircraft entered the adjacent facility airspace without coordination.