Narrative:

I was working the radar medford position. I received a strip on a F15 from lmt to mfr then back to lmt. Shortly after I received the strip; I received a remove strip message and thought that the aircraft was not inbound after all. Then a few minutes later the F-15 started flashing on the east side of my scope; so I dug the original strip out of the garbage can; which took some time. The F-15 checked on and requested an ILS approach at mfr; with a missed approach back to lmt. I coordinated the opposite direction approach with mfr tower and it was approved. I asked the controller in charge (controller in charge) to come over so that I could query him about the alternate missed approach instructions. We have had some issues with F15's over the last month or two and I wanted to make sure that I was doing it properly. He showed me how to pull up the alternate instructions on the ids-4 (until recently there was a piece of paper at the position with the information); but then told me that the F-15 was a category east aircraft; which is not addressed in said instructions. Not knowing what to do; I asked the pilot of the F-15 if he needed the alternate missed approach instructions. He responded; 'negative. We would like a VFR climb on the go direct....' his radio was terrible and I had to ask a couple of times to figure out that he was saying crust. I had no idea where the fix crust was. I had several strips popping out of the printer at that time; so the controller in charge offered to call and coordinate for me. He said that seattle center (ZSE) had approved direct crust; but was unable to approve a higher altitude. I thanked him for helping with the coordination and he returned to his work in the supervisor's cubicle. I told the F-15 'on the go; climb VFR on course to and maintain 110; cleared direct crust direct lmt'. I was told that crust is an approach fix for lmt; and assumed that it would be approximately the same heading as lmt. The F-15 advised that he was not receiving the localizer; so I coordinated again with mfr tower and asked them if they were getting an alarm on the equipment. They were not. The controller at mfr tower ended up clearing the F-15 for a visual approach. While the F15 was still on final I called seattle center (ZSE) sector 30 to try and get higher for the F-15 on the go. The controller sounded like a developmental and at the end the instructor came on to finish the coordination. The coordination was not concise; but it was my understanding that they wanted me to hand the aircraft off to sector 10; and that they were not able to approve a higher altitude for the aircraft. The F-15 was slow in coming over to my frequency after the approach (he was at least 5000) and was climbing fast. Since the aircraft appeared to be headed in a safe direction toward lmt; and ZSE had accepted the handoff; I switched the aircraft to sector 10's UHF frequency. I believe that the aircraft responded to the frequency change. A couple of minutes later sector 10 called me and asked 'what is the F-15 doing?' this really caught me off guard. I responded that he was direct crust direct lmt per previous coordination; and that he should be on their frequency. I realized then that the F15 was level at 110 and headed toward a high MVA (115) to the northeast. The aircraft ended up in the higher MVA close to the boundary; but appeared to be well clear of mt. Mcloughlin. When I called sector 10 back they were in communication with the F-15. Recommendation; I should have just requested a new strip instead of digging through the garbage can. I should have handled the initial coordination with ZSE on my own; and I should have been more proactive in finding out exactly where crust is. I should have been more careful in giving the onward clearance to lmt to the F-15. Hindsight being what it is; I realize now that I should have held on to the aircraft longer and coordinated directly with sector 10 for a higher altitude. We have been requesting for years that we be given more airspace (another 1000' at least) to prevent exactly this kind of occurrence. In addition; we have no way of knowing at any given time if the sectors at ZSE are combined or decombined which makes coordination very frustrating at times.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: EUG controller experienced a MVA infraction because of confused flight plan information and coordination involving a military aircraft conducting practice approaces to MFR.

Narrative: I was working the RADAR Medford position. I received a strip on a F15 from LMT to MFR then back to LMT. Shortly after I received the strip; I received a remove strip message and thought that the aircraft was not inbound after all. Then a few minutes later the F-15 started flashing on the east side of my scope; so I dug the original strip out of the garbage can; which took some time. The F-15 checked on and requested an ILS approach at MFR; with a missed approach back to LMT. I coordinated the opposite direction approach with MFR Tower and it was approved. I asked the CIC (Controller in Charge) to come over so that I could query him about the alternate missed approach instructions. We have had some issues with F15's over the last month or two and I wanted to make sure that I was doing it properly. He showed me how to pull up the alternate instructions on the IDS-4 (until recently there was a piece of paper at the position with the information); but then told me that the F-15 was a category E aircraft; which is not addressed in said instructions. Not knowing what to do; I asked the pilot of the F-15 if he needed the alternate missed approach instructions. He responded; 'Negative. We would like a VFR climb on the go direct....' His radio was terrible and I had to ask a couple of times to figure out that he was saying CRUST. I had no idea where the fix CRUST was. I had several strips popping out of the printer at that time; so the CIC offered to call and coordinate for me. He said that Seattle Center (ZSE) had approved direct CRUST; but was unable to approve a higher altitude. I thanked him for helping with the coordination and he returned to his work in the Supervisor's cubicle. I told the F-15 'On the go; climb VFR on course to and maintain 110; cleared direct CRUST direct LMT'. I was told that CRUST is an approach fix for LMT; and assumed that it would be approximately the same heading as LMT. The F-15 advised that he was not receiving the localizer; so I coordinated again with MFR Tower and asked them if they were getting an alarm on the equipment. They were not. The Controller at MFR Tower ended up clearing the F-15 for a visual approach. While the F15 was still on final I called Seattle Center (ZSE) Sector 30 to try and get higher for the F-15 on the go. The Controller sounded like a developmental and at the end the instructor came on to finish the coordination. The coordination was not concise; but it was my understanding that they wanted me to hand the aircraft off to Sector 10; and that they were not able to approve a higher altitude for the aircraft. The F-15 was slow in coming over to my frequency after the approach (he was at least 5000) and was climbing fast. Since the aircraft appeared to be headed in a safe direction toward LMT; and ZSE had accepted the handoff; I switched the aircraft to Sector 10's UHF frequency. I believe that the aircraft responded to the frequency change. A couple of minutes later Sector 10 called me and asked 'What is the F-15 doing?' This really caught me off guard. I responded that he was direct CRUST direct LMT per previous coordination; and that he should be on their frequency. I realized then that the F15 was level at 110 and headed toward a high MVA (115) to the northeast. The aircraft ended up in the higher MVA close to the boundary; but appeared to be well clear of Mt. McLoughlin. When I called Sector 10 back they were in communication with the F-15. Recommendation; I should have just requested a new strip instead of digging through the garbage can. I should have handled the initial coordination with ZSE on my own; and I should have been more proactive in finding out exactly where CRUST is. I should have been more careful in giving the onward clearance to LMT to the F-15. Hindsight being what it is; I realize now that I should have held on to the aircraft longer and coordinated directly with Sector 10 for a higher altitude. We have been requesting for years that we be given more airspace (another 1000' at least) to prevent exactly this kind of occurrence. In addition; we have no way of knowing at any given time if the Sectors at ZSE are combined or decombined which makes coordination very frustrating at times.

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.