Narrative:

Aircraft Y was slow climbing out of 16000 for 19000 feet and head on with aircraft X who was descending out of 26000 feet via the razrr star. I called the center sector to give them a heads up and gave them a data block on aircraft Y. I called the TRACON sector to ask what his plan was for the two aircraft. The TRACON sector said; 'oh; i took a point out on him'. It seems like TRACON was working aircraft Y. Eventually; the TRACON departure sector picked up the line and gave me control for turns to separate the airplanes that were in the TRACON arrival sector airspace. I explained that I wasn't in communication with aircraft Y and he was outside of my airspace now. I couldn't do anything to save it. He needed to talk to the center sector. The center aircraft X to TRACON instead of issuing an amended altitude of 20000 feet to aircraft X. To save what was looking like a bad near miss TRACON issued a panic vector of 130 (50 degrees rt) to aircraft Y.the TRACON arrival sector is the only sector that knows about both aircraft. They should not take a point out on an aircraft they have traffic for in anticipation that center will climb the aircraft. The TRACON supervisor looked at the falcon radar replay and said; 'well; if you guys would have climbed aircraft Y; this wouldn't have been a problem'. This is not a safety culture response. What happens when the aircraft doesn't take a frequency change? The TRACON arrival sector needed to issue a heading that would keep aircraft Y safe from aircraft X.I would have been unable to safely climb the aircraft Y without a strong turn to the north.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZOA Center Controller reported the adjacent TRACON sectors took point outs on aircraft that were head on into confliction instead of taking communication and control of the two aircraft.

Narrative: Aircraft Y was slow climbing out of 16000 for 19000 feet and head on with Aircraft X who was descending out of 26000 feet via the RAZRR star. I called the Center sector to give them a heads up and gave them a data block on Aircraft Y. I called the TRACON sector to ask what his plan was for the two aircraft. The TRACON sector said; 'Oh; i took a point out on him'. It seems like TRACON was working Aircraft Y. Eventually; the TRACON departure sector picked up the line and gave me control for turns to separate the airplanes that were in the TRACON Arrival sector airspace. I explained that I wasn't in communication with Aircraft Y and he was outside of my airspace now. I couldn't do anything to save it. He needed to talk to the Center sector. The center Aircraft X to TRACON instead of issuing an amended altitude of 20000 feet to Aircraft X. To save what was looking like a bad near miss TRACON issued a panic vector of 130 (50 degrees rt) to Aircraft Y.The TRACON Arrival sector is the only sector that knows about both aircraft. They should not take a point out on an aircraft they have traffic for in anticipation that Center will climb the aircraft. The TRACON Supervisor looked at the FALCON radar replay and said; 'Well; if you guys would have climbed Aircraft Y; this wouldn't have been a problem'. THIS IS NOT A SAFETY CULTURE RESPONSE. What happens when the aircraft doesn't take a frequency change? The TRACON Arrival sector needed to issue a heading that would keep Aircraft Y safe from Aircraft X.I would have been unable to safely climb the Aircraft Y without a strong turn to the north.

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.