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Eug controllers reported unknowingly accepting a handoff on an aircraft which was 1;000 feet below the minimum enroute altitude until it was pointed out by the supervisor.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1498611 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201711 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | EUG.TRACON |
| State Reference | OR |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cessna Aircraft Undifferentiated or Other Model |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Approach |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Developmental |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Supervisor / CIC |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
Narrative:
Aircraft X checked on north of eug airspace after accepting the handoff; I did not notice that he was handed off to me below the MEA level at 5;000 on V287. ZSE failed to climb the aircraft prior to craff intersection where the MEA is at 6;000 at the boundary of our airspace. Since I wasn't aware that the aircraft was too low I allowed aircraft X to continue on his route of flight until I noticed he had flown through a 5;300 MVA at which point I issued a climb to 7;000 and aircraft X responded by saying he was VFR on top (otp) at 5;000 and was requesting a VFR otp clearance which I then issued.even though aircraft X was at the correct altitude for the airway north of eug airspace there is a 5;700 MVA less than 2 miles west of V287; if aircraft X had drifted west even staying within the 4 mile lateral confines of the airway he could potentially drift into the higher MVA.I recommend that the eug/ZSE LOA be changed to enforce a climb to at least the MEA prior to handing the traffic off to eug approach. Eug does not have control for climbs outside of our airspace; therefore if the handoff is accepted late or the receiving controller is busy and misses the altitude they would have very little time to react and request control for a climb outside of our airspace.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: EUG Controllers reported unknowingly accepting a handoff on an aircraft which was 1;000 feet below the Minimum Enroute Altitude until it was pointed out by the Supervisor.
Narrative: Aircraft X checked on north of EUG airspace after accepting the handoff; I did not notice that he was handed off to me below the MEA level at 5;000 on V287. ZSE failed to climb the aircraft prior to CRAFF intersection where the MEA is at 6;000 at the boundary of our airspace. Since I wasn't aware that the aircraft was too low I allowed Aircraft X to continue on his route of flight until I noticed he had flown through a 5;300 MVA at which point I issued a climb to 7;000 and Aircraft X responded by saying he was VFR On Top (OTP) at 5;000 and was requesting a VFR OTP clearance which I then issued.Even though Aircraft X was at the correct altitude for the airway north of EUG airspace there is a 5;700 MVA less than 2 miles west of V287; if Aircraft X had drifted west even staying within the 4 mile lateral confines of the airway he could potentially drift into the higher MVA.I recommend that the EUG/ZSE LOA be changed to enforce a climb to at least the MEA prior to handing the traffic off to EUG Approach. EUG does not have control for climbs outside of our airspace; therefore if the handoff is accepted late or the receiving controller is busy and misses the altitude they would have very little time to react and request control for a climb outside of our airspace.
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.