Narrative:

2 sets of military flights were flying northbound -- both sets were nonstandard and in the process of aerial refueling. Both flights were handed off to the next sector. The flights decided they wanted to split up and flight X would return to ZZZ -- back through our airspace; and flight Y would continue northbound. So we took radar contact on flight Y and in the meantime flight X decided he wanted to go back to ZZZ so we took the handoff on that aircraft as well. In the meantime; aircraft Y was a departure out of new york going overseas and was climbed to FL230. Again the military flights had a request that flight X now wanted to change his destination; once again; to ZZZ1. The d-position during all this was putting in the many amendments on the flights and looking up routings for the destination changes when flight Y requested to descend lower. The radar controller; I believe; because she was so frazzled with all the military flight changes; meant to descend the flight X to FL240 because he/she did put that in the data block but instead climbed the aircraft to FL240 which was still showing FL230 in the data block. Now flight Y declares an emergency and says he/she is proceeding direct ZZZ -- right through all the new york departures (in the direction of ZZZ2) and descending from FL250 to 10;000 ft. These flights and military flights always come through with many requests and the 2 sectors they fly through are just too small and too busy for break-ups; changes in destinations; etc. There is just not enough time to issue these clearances; put them in the computer and hand them off; not to mention keep the sectors under control with all the other airplanes. The military aircraft cause problems almost every time!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZNY Controller witnessed loss of separation when a military flight requested breakup; multiple destination changes; and then declared an emergency; resulting in an operational error. Limited airspace and distractions listed as casual factors.

Narrative: 2 sets of military flights were flying northbound -- both sets were nonstandard and in the process of aerial refueling. Both flights were handed off to the next sector. The flights decided they wanted to split up and Flight X would return to ZZZ -- back through our airspace; and Flight Y would continue northbound. So we took radar contact on Flight Y and in the meantime Flight X decided he wanted to go back to ZZZ so we took the handoff on that aircraft as well. In the meantime; Aircraft Y was a departure out of New York going overseas and was climbed to FL230. Again the military flights had a request that Flight X now wanted to change his destination; once again; to ZZZ1. The D-position during all this was putting in the many amendments on the flights and looking up routings for the destination changes when Flight Y requested to descend lower. The Radar Controller; I believe; because she was so frazzled with all the military flight changes; meant to descend the Flight X to FL240 because he/she did put that in the data block but instead climbed the aircraft to FL240 which was still showing FL230 in the data block. Now Flight Y declares an emergency and says he/she is proceeding direct ZZZ -- right through all the New York departures (in the direction of ZZZ2) and descending from FL250 to 10;000 FT. These flights and military flights always come through with many requests and the 2 sectors they fly through are just too small and too busy for break-ups; changes in destinations; etc. There is just not enough time to issue these clearances; put them in the computer and hand them off; not to mention keep the sectors under control with all the other airplanes. The military aircraft cause problems almost every time!

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.