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Palo alto tower controller reported phantom target issue.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1634859 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201904 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | PAO.Tower |
| State Reference | CA |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Helicopter |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Local |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 6 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
While working local control I observed a phantom target approximately 1NM west of palo alto airport moving west bound at 005 indicated. The target had a discreet code; but was not tagged up. I then observed aircraft X in the san francisco class B airspace on an opposite heading approximately 15NM apart. This type phantom target is a repeating problem that is regularly observed. I was able to use the track printout feature on the phantom target to try and document the occurrence for further evaluation. There appears to be some issue with the automation that causes phantom targets of low level aircraft in the san francisco class B airspace to appear as a phantom around palo alto. Further scrutiny of the software is needed to identify and resolve the issue. Permission granted to share this report and any automation data associated with this report.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Palo Alto Tower Controller reported phantom target issue.
Narrative: While working local control I observed a phantom target approximately 1NM west of Palo Alto airport moving west bound at 005 indicated. The target had a discreet code; but was not tagged up. I then observed Aircraft X in the San Francisco Class B airspace on an opposite heading approximately 15NM apart. This type phantom target is a repeating problem that is regularly observed. I was able to use the track printout feature on the phantom target to try and document the occurrence for further evaluation. There appears to be some issue with the automation that causes phantom targets of low level aircraft in the San Francisco Class B airspace to appear as a phantom around Palo Alto. Further scrutiny of the software is needed to identify and resolve the issue. Permission granted to share this report and any automation data associated with this report.
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.