TRACON controller described an emergency event involving an air carrier that required an immediate r...

Narrative:

Air carrier X declared an emergency about 15 miles east of the airport. He advised me that he may have a fire in the back of the aircraft. I immediately vectored him towards the airport. I had traffic in front of him on runway xxl which I broke out to make room. During this time I was also coordinating the information I had with the arrival coordinator and the tmc. All the coordination was completed off line. I initially cleared the aircraft for a visual to runway xxl. Though I mentioned to the aircraft I was working on getting runway yy; that is the normal emergency runway. I coordinated with the other final controller for runway yy and he began breaking out his aircraft on that final. I cleared air carrier X for the visual to runway yy. I then called the local north position in the tower and advised him air carrier X was an emergency and that he would be assigned the emergency frequency. I switched air carrier X to that frequency and had no further contact with him. Later I spoke to the flm that was reviewing the emergency operation. He advised me that he listened to the tapes and that air carrier X never acknowledged the approach clearance to runway xxl as I converged with air carrier Y. This is critical in order to comply with 7110.65 7-4-4 simultaneous visual approaches. I did not review the tapes so I cannot confirm nor deny this. Nor do I recall getting the read back from air carrier X as there was a lot of other things I was doing.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described an emergency event involving an Air Carrier that required an immediate return to the departure airport; the reporter noting a post event review revealed that not all ATC requirements were completed.

Narrative: Air Carrier X declared an emergency about 15 miles east of the airport. He advised me that he may have a fire in the back of the aircraft. I immediately vectored him towards the airport. I had traffic in front of him on Runway XXL which I broke out to make room. During this time I was also coordinating the information I had with the arrival coordinator and the TMC. All the coordination was completed off line. I initially cleared the aircraft for a visual to Runway XXL. Though I mentioned to the aircraft I was working on getting Runway YY; that is the normal emergency runway. I coordinated with the other Final Controller for Runway YY and he began breaking out his aircraft on that final. I cleared Air Carrier X for the visual to Runway YY. I then called the Local North position in the Tower and advised him Air Carrier X was an emergency and that he would be assigned the emergency frequency. I switched Air Carrier X to that frequency and had no further contact with him. Later I spoke to the FLM that was reviewing the emergency operation. He advised me that he listened to the tapes and that Air Carrier X never acknowledged the approach clearance to Runway XXL as I converged with Air Carrier Y. This is critical in order to comply with 7110.65 7-4-4 simultaneous visual approaches. I did not review the tapes so I cannot confirm nor deny this. Nor do I recall getting the read back from Air Carrier X as there was a lot of other things I was doing.

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	920119
Time
Date	201011
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.TRACON
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	B737-300
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Descent
Route In Use	Visual Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

TRACON controller described an emergency event involving an air carrier that required an immediate return to the departure airport; the reporter noting a post event review revealed that not all ATC requirements were completed.