Narrative:

Aircraft X was proving support for sar south of iso at 030 feet. We had called the inbound to the tower; but aircraft X decided to orbit south of the airport for another 30 minutes after the initial call. The pilot then advised they would like to proceed to the airport and were cleared to do so. I decided to recall the inbound because of the amount of time that had passed since the initial call. At that time; we were unable to reach the tower because of issues with the com lines. The regular lines were out of service. While we were attempting to call kinston tower; aircraft X descended below the mia; was issued the brasher notification and told to maintain the mia. Aircraft X went back to the mia and asked if they were cleared into the tower's airspace. Being unsure; I told them to fly heading 160 to avoid; but it was not issued in time to maintain separation. Separation was reestablished and aircraft X was cleared for a visual approach a few minutes later.if a tower is going to be open but the standard communication lines are not in service; there should be dedicated cell phones for the tower [to] use so that the facility providing approach control services can have a standard number to reach them.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZDC ARTCC Controller reported an airspace violation; a low altitude alert; and communication problem with a local Tower.

Narrative: Aircraft X was proving support for SAR south of ISO at 030 feet. We had called the inbound to the Tower; but Aircraft X decided to orbit south of the airport for another 30 minutes after the initial call. The pilot then advised they would like to proceed to the airport and were cleared to do so. I decided to recall the inbound because of the amount of time that had passed since the initial call. At that time; we were unable to reach the Tower because of issues with the com lines. The regular lines were out of service. While we were attempting to call Kinston Tower; Aircraft X descended below the MIA; was issued the brasher notification and told to maintain the MIA. Aircraft X went back to the MIA and asked if they were cleared into the Tower's airspace. Being unsure; I told them to fly heading 160 to avoid; but it was not issued in time to maintain separation. Separation was reestablished and Aircraft X was cleared for a visual approach a few minutes later.If a Tower is going to be open but the standard communication lines are not in service; there should be dedicated cell phones for the Tower [to] use so that the facility providing approach control services can have a standard number to reach them.

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.