ZAB controller described near loss of separation event when military aircraft made an unexpected tur...

Narrative:

Handed off air carrier X to sector 50; switched air carrier X to 50. I saw the limited flying toward the far northwest corner of outlaw. The limited was between FL390-395. I called the limited on guard; told him to turn south immediately; I didn't feel like the aircraft was responding in time so I called on guard again and told him to acknowledge with an identify. The identify was delayed; but the turn was started. I didn't think the turn was still efficient enough; so I called on guard again and told him to work southeast. At that point the aircraft started the descent. Separation was never lost; the closest the aircraft were was approximately 8 miles and same altitude to 500 ft difference.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZAB Controller described near loss of separation event when military aircraft made an unexpected turn after an air carrier had been handed off and changed to an adjacent sector.

Narrative: Handed off ACR X to Sector 50; switched ACR X to 50. I saw the limited flying toward the far northwest corner of outlaw. The limited was between FL390-395. I called the limited on guard; told him to turn south immediately; I didn't feel like the aircraft was responding in time so I called on guard again and told him to acknowledge with an IDENT. The IDENT was delayed; but the turn was started. I didn't think the turn was still efficient enough; so I called on guard again and told him to work Southeast. At that point the aircraft started the descent. Separation was never lost; the closest the aircraft were was approximately 8 miles and same altitude to 500 FT difference.

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.

Attributes
ACN	859345
Time
Date	200911
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZAB.ARTCC
State Reference	NM
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Large Transport Low Wing 2 Turbojet Eng
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	Conflict Airborne Conflict
Miss Distance	Horizontal 24000 Vertical 500

ZAB controller described near loss of separation event when military aircraft made an unexpected turn after an air carrier had been handed off and changed to an adjacent sector.