Lga controller expressed concern regarding amass limitations and decision to operate amass in limite...

Attributes
ACN	700363
Time
Date	200606
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : lga.airport
State Reference	NY
Environment
Weather Elements	Rain Thunderstorm
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : local
Experience	controller limited radar : 17 controller time certified in position1 : 7 controller time certified in position2 : 6
ASRS Report	700363
Events
Independent Detector	other controllera
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Supplementary
Problem Areas	FAA
Primary Problem	FAA
Situations
ATC Facility	radar equipment : lga.tower

Narrative:

Amass (airport movement area safety system) was set in limited mode due to approaching thunderstorms rendering the equipment ineffective and creating an unsafe environment. Corrective action: a) increase ground delay programs to lga in order to provide increased spacing on final and keep amass in operational mode. B) install asde-X system which can be reliably used during adverse WX.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LGA CTLR EXPRESSED CONCERN REGARDING AMASS LIMITATIONS AND DECISION TO OPERATE AMASS IN LIMITED MODE.

Narrative: AMASS (ARPT MOVEMENT AREA SAFETY SYS) WAS SET IN LIMITED MODE DUE TO APCHING TSTMS RENDERING THE EQUIP INEFFECTIVE AND CREATING AN UNSAFE ENVIRONMENT. CORRECTIVE ACTION: A) INCREASE GND DELAY PROGRAMS TO LGA IN ORDER TO PROVIDE INCREASED SPACING ON FINAL AND KEEP AMASS IN OPERATIONAL MODE. B) INSTALL ASDE-X SYS WHICH CAN BE RELIABLY USED DURING ADVERSE WX.

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.

Lga controller expressed concern regarding amass limitations and decision to operate amass in limited mode.