Narrative:

I was working 2 departure sectors combined in a north flow confign during a high traffic peak with 2 frequencys; WX in the TRACON airspace; combined rtes and in-trail restrs to the outer. Many of the aircraft I was controling had received a rerte on the ground from rtes being swapped to a different departure gate. Then that rate was again combined to another which required even further instructions for rerte from me after they were airborne. Consequently; this resulted in data tags with 3 different route indicators going out the same route. The frequency congestion and additional routing contributed to readback errors and gave me reason to repeat instructions often; and phonetically spell new routing. This took away valuable frequency time and diverted my attention away from other details. Consequently; I had 4 aircraft depart dfw some needing vectors others on RNAV; some needing rerte others were on their normal routing -- all going over the same fix; minimum spacing. The last aircraft in this group was on his normal RNAV route and I failed to recognize in his data tag that he would need to be in trail of the previous aircraft. I had mistakenly determined he would be flying the route directly north of the combined route. After I climbed the 4TH aircraft to 17000 ft I sent him to the center. I failed to provide the standard separation between him and the previous aircraft (also at 17000 ft). The center controller (receiving) recognized my error and established visual separation before standard separation was lost. The complexity of the combined position including WX rertes; deviations; combined rtes and frequency congestion caused my attention to be diverted many places at once and I misidented a route on a data tag resulting in a mis-application of separation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: D10 CTLR EXPERIENCED NEAR LOSS OF SEPARATION WITH DEP ACFT DURING WX AND RERTE COMPLICATIONS.

Narrative: I WAS WORKING 2 DEP SECTORS COMBINED IN A N FLOW CONFIGN DURING A HIGH TFC PEAK WITH 2 FREQS; WX IN THE TRACON AIRSPACE; COMBINED RTES AND IN-TRAIL RESTRS TO THE OUTER. MANY OF THE ACFT I WAS CTLING HAD RECEIVED A RERTE ON THE GND FROM RTES BEING SWAPPED TO A DIFFERENT DEP GATE. THEN THAT RATE WAS AGAIN COMBINED TO ANOTHER WHICH REQUIRED EVEN FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS FOR RERTE FROM ME AFTER THEY WERE AIRBORNE. CONSEQUENTLY; THIS RESULTED IN DATA TAGS WITH 3 DIFFERENT RTE INDICATORS GOING OUT THE SAME RTE. THE FREQ CONGESTION AND ADDITIONAL ROUTING CONTRIBUTED TO READBACK ERRORS AND GAVE ME REASON TO REPEAT INSTRUCTIONS OFTEN; AND PHONETICALLY SPELL NEW ROUTING. THIS TOOK AWAY VALUABLE FREQ TIME AND DIVERTED MY ATTN AWAY FROM OTHER DETAILS. CONSEQUENTLY; I HAD 4 ACFT DEPART DFW SOME NEEDING VECTORS OTHERS ON RNAV; SOME NEEDING RERTE OTHERS WERE ON THEIR NORMAL ROUTING -- ALL GOING OVER THE SAME FIX; MINIMUM SPACING. THE LAST ACFT IN THIS GROUP WAS ON HIS NORMAL RNAV RTE AND I FAILED TO RECOGNIZE IN HIS DATA TAG THAT HE WOULD NEED TO BE IN TRAIL OF THE PREVIOUS ACFT. I HAD MISTAKENLY DETERMINED HE WOULD BE FLYING THE RTE DIRECTLY N OF THE COMBINED RTE. AFTER I CLBED THE 4TH ACFT TO 17000 FT I SENT HIM TO THE CTR. I FAILED TO PROVIDE THE STANDARD SEPARATION BTWN HIM AND THE PREVIOUS ACFT (ALSO AT 17000 FT). THE CTR CTLR (RECEIVING) RECOGNIZED MY ERROR AND ESTABLISHED VISUAL SEPARATION BEFORE STANDARD SEPARATION WAS LOST. THE COMPLEXITY OF THE COMBINED POS INCLUDING WX RERTES; DEVS; COMBINED RTES AND FREQ CONGESTION CAUSED MY ATTN TO BE DIVERTED MANY PLACES AT ONCE AND I MISIDENTED A RTE ON A DATA TAG RESULTING IN A MIS-APPLICATION OF SEPARATION.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.