Narrative:

I began splitting off sector 72 at about XA30Z. I received separate briefings from the radar and radar associate. The radar gave me briefings about the aircraft that were displayed on the scope; as well as weather; military; etc. The radar associate then brought his strips over to my sector. He gave me about four strips to lay flat in the board; saying they were already taken care of which meant they were separated and coordinated. The rest of the strips maybe about eight to ten of them he said he hadn't had a chance to look at because they were some time out from the sector. I took the sector at that time and immediately began taking care of the highest priority items: talking to airplanes and coordinating new altitudes and speeds with merida(mexico). Then I went through my bay of traffic and started sequencing new strips. When I got a few more strips into the board I started to check all of the strips against the radar display. I immediately saw that there were no position reports or estimates on aircraft 1's strip only a possible altitude check. I looked on the scope and there was no data block either. I did a route display on the scope but no route showed up (meaning he was either still in merida's airspace or already in miami's). Then I looked at the minow time (the fix where I would begin to get radar on the aircraft). The time on the strip showed XA34Z and it was already about 10 minutes past that. I thought it was possible the aircraft must have already been handed off to miami center and shipped and that the previous controllers had simply failed to mark the strip. I then started looking for the limited data block to ensure what I thought was true. I ranged out on the scope but didn't see the limited in miami's airspace before I had to range back in so I could talk to additional aircraft entering my sector. At this point I really thought aircraft 1 had left my airspace because it was well past the minow time and I would have seen the limited had he been any closer to my sector. I left the strip in the bay; intending to pursue the matter; but I had other work I needed to do first. Then the miami center controller called over the shout line and told me to ship the aircraft 1. I think I immediately swapped into enhanced backup surveillance system (ebus) and there was the limited as clear as day but in host; nothing. Aircraft 1 was already in miami center's airspace. I issued the frequency change to aircraft 1 and he responded. But he never reported the two mandatory reporting points (minow and epson). Fort green long range radar was out of service. It appears that the ads-B radar site (vre: virtual radar east) prevented the display of the limited target in my airspace from minow eastward along A509. Vre had replaced fort green as the primary site in a few radar sort boxes. Aircraft 1 wasn't adsb equipped; hence no display. The data blocks we start in ocean east and west that are non radar are put immediately into coast track so that the data block will 'fly' along the aircraft route. Recommendations: where to begin?1. Utilize proper strip marking procedures. Carry through time changes or cross out the inaccurate times period. The time merida coordinated with the receiving ZHU controller was three minutes later than the time on the strip. The coordinated time was written on the first fix but the rest of the fix times (three total on one strip) were not corrected. Instead of XA34z at minow; the corrected time would have been XA37. I didn't notice that at first.2. Enter the adjusted time in host. I might have gotten a route display showing the aircraft should be at or past minow.3. Obtain and write down position reports on the strip.4. Start a data block and put it in coast track while aircraft is non-radar.5. After receiving the individual position relief briefings from radar and radar associate; correlate the information given from each position to make sure everything coincides.6. Have pilots comply with the requirement to report mandatory fixes while non-radar.7. Implement a safe procedure to deal with the impact of ads-B testing on live traffic. (This isn't the first incident with IFR traffic being 'hidden from view' because of adsb being primary for beacon targets in radar sort boxes.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A combination of pilot failure to position report; air traffic controller coordination error; and technology issues result in an ZHU airspace deviation.

Narrative: I began splitting off Sector 72 at about XA30Z. I received separate briefings from the radar and radar associate. The radar gave me briefings about the aircraft that were displayed on the scope; as well as weather; military; etc. The radar associate then brought his strips over to my sector. He gave me about four strips to lay flat in the board; saying they were already taken care of which meant they were separated and coordinated. The rest of the strips maybe about eight to ten of them he said he hadn't had a chance to look at because they were some time out from the sector. I took the sector at that time and immediately began taking care of the highest priority items: talking to airplanes and coordinating new altitudes and speeds with Merida(Mexico). Then I went through my bay of traffic and started sequencing new strips. When I got a few more strips into the board I started to check all of the strips against the radar display. I immediately saw that there were no position reports or estimates on Aircraft 1's strip only a possible altitude check. I looked on the scope and there was no data block either. I did a route display on the scope but no route showed up (meaning he was either still in Merida's airspace or already in Miami's). Then I looked at the MINOW time (the fix where I would begin to get radar on the aircraft). The time on the strip showed XA34Z and it was already about 10 minutes past that. I thought it was possible the aircraft must have already been handed off to Miami Center and shipped and that the previous controllers had simply failed to mark the strip. I then started looking for the limited data block to ensure what I thought was true. I ranged out on the scope but didn't see the limited in Miami's airspace before I had to range back in so I could talk to additional aircraft entering my sector. At this point I really thought Aircraft 1 had left my airspace because it was well past the MINOW time and I would have seen the limited had he been any closer to my sector. I left the strip in the bay; intending to pursue the matter; but I had other work I needed to do first. Then the Miami Center controller called over the shout line and told me to ship the Aircraft 1. I think I immediately swapped into Enhanced Backup Surveillance System (EBUS) and there was the limited as clear as day but in Host; nothing. Aircraft 1 was already in Miami Center's airspace. I issued the frequency change to Aircraft 1 and he responded. But he never reported the two mandatory reporting points (MINOW and EPSON). Fort Green Long Range Radar was out of service. It appears that the ADS-B radar site (VRE: Virtual Radar East) prevented the display of the limited target in my airspace from MINOW eastward along A509. VRE had replaced Fort Green as the primary site in a few radar sort boxes. Aircraft 1 wasn't ADSB equipped; hence no display. The data blocks we start in OCEAN EAST AND WEST that are non radar are put immediately into coast track so that the data block will 'fly' along the aircraft route. Recommendations: Where to begin?1. Utilize proper strip marking procedures. Carry through time changes or cross out the inaccurate times period. The time Merida coordinated with the receiving ZHU controller was three minutes later than the time on the strip. The coordinated time was written on the first fix but the rest of the fix times (three total on one strip) were not corrected. Instead of XA34z at MINOW; the corrected time would have been XA37. I didn't notice that at first.2. Enter the adjusted time in Host. I might have gotten a route display showing the aircraft should be at or past MINOW.3. Obtain and write down position reports on the strip.4. Start a data block and put it in coast track while aircraft is non-radar.5. After receiving the individual position relief briefings from radar and radar associate; correlate the information given from each position to make sure everything coincides.6. Have pilots comply with the requirement to report mandatory fixes while non-radar.7. Implement a safe procedure to deal with the impact of ADS-B testing on live traffic. (This isn't the first incident with IFR traffic being 'hidden from view' because of ADSB being primary for BEACON targets in radar sort boxes.

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.