Narrative:

I was informed of a possible near midair collision between a C310 and a C172. I was working a short spurt of complex busy traffic. I did not talk to the C310 until after the event had transpired. At the time of the event I was focused on numerous aircraft in the pattern and on the runways. I issued traffic observed to the C172 prior to transferring control to A11; I did not observe the C310 on the radar at that point. Recommendation; both the ground controller and controller in charge say they were telling me about the traffic; however two way communication was never established. A simple touch on the shoulder or walking over and pointing to the radar targets could have achieved the communication. Also; and more importantly; a drop zone for the pattern on stars has never been instituted even though it's been suggested on numerous occasions. The MSAW/ca goes off incessantly; rendering it useless.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MRI Controller was advised of a possible NMAC that reportedly occurred during a brief complex traffic period but went unnoticed by the reporter.

Narrative: I was informed of a possible NMAC between a C310 and a C172. I was working a short spurt of complex busy traffic. I did not talk to the C310 until after the event had transpired. At the time of the event I was focused on numerous aircraft in the pattern and on the runways. I issued traffic observed to the C172 prior to transferring control to A11; I did not observe the C310 on the RADAR at that point. Recommendation; both the Ground Controller and CIC say they were telling me about the traffic; however two way communication was never established. A simple touch on the shoulder or walking over and pointing to the RADAR targets could have achieved the communication. Also; and more importantly; a drop zone for the pattern on STARS has never been instituted even though it's been suggested on numerous occasions. The MSAW/CA goes off incessantly; rendering it useless.

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.