Narrative:

I was assist. I was busy entering scratchpads and typing in data; and looked up and aircraft X was below the MVA. I told the radar controller. At this point I wasn't sure if he was cleared for the visual approach or what; I didn't think he was but I wasn't sure; so I just moved on to the next task. Later; the radar controller anticipated the MVA and issued a descent clearance to the same aircraft and he went below the MVA.recommendation: the high mvas east of the sna final create a near impossible situation to sequence; meet MVA requirements; and issue a stable approach not above the glidepath. Because of this; many controllers anticipate the descent. If we are on time; the aircraft is high. If we anticipate and the aircraft starts their descent right on the line as planned; we may not be so high. If we miss the exact opportunity and another aircraft calls; the aircraft may have to go through the final; which impedes on the opposite downwind and creates a possible loss.approximately a year ago; we had step down lines and were able to descend to 4;000; then 3;000 much earlier. These were taken away after the eva incident in del rey area. Something needs to be done to alleviate this problem; either the MVA needs to be lowered (we all know they're high considering we had the step down for years and years); or everyone needs to come in on the right downwind with flow to sna.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: SCT controller reported the new MVA requirements east of SNA do not allow controllers to get aircraft low enough for a stable approach.

Narrative: I was Assist. I was busy entering scratchpads and typing in data; and looked up and Aircraft X was below the MVA. I told the radar controller. At this point I wasn't sure if he was cleared for the visual approach or what; I didn't think he was but I wasn't sure; so I just moved on to the next task. Later; the radar controller anticipated the MVA and issued a descent clearance to the same aircraft and he went below the MVA.Recommendation: The high MVAs east of the SNA final create a near impossible situation to sequence; meet MVA requirements; and issue a stable approach not above the glidepath. Because of this; many controllers anticipate the descent. If we are on time; the aircraft is high. If we anticipate and the aircraft starts their descent right on the line as planned; we may not be so high. If we miss the exact opportunity and another aircraft calls; the aircraft may have to go through the final; which impedes on the opposite downwind and creates a possible loss.Approximately a year ago; we had step down lines and were able to descend to 4;000; then 3;000 MUCH earlier. These were taken away after the EVA incident in DEL REY area. Something needs to be done to alleviate this problem; either the MVA needs to be lowered (we all know they're high considering we had the step down for years and years); or everyone needs to come in on the right downwind with flow to SNA.

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.