Narrative:

I had an operational error between air carrier X and aircraft Y. Both aircraft were at FL370 on a slowly converging course. I recognized the confliction early and; using uret; tried to correct the issue using route separation. However; this proved to not be acceptable. I checked uret for the winds in the area and; according to uret; the winds favored a vector to the north for air carrier X. I vectored air carrier X 30 degrees left to the north thinking that it would take the aircraft out of the wind and slow the aircraft down. This along with the vector should have worked sufficiently. However; after approximately one minute; I checked the progress of the two aircraft and noticed air carrier X had gained 45 KTS; not lost the 20 KTS as I was expecting. I vectored air carrier X an additional 15 degrees left and asked the controller east of me to descend aircraft Y to FL360. I continued to monitor the situation. I felt we had five miles; but the oedp gave a reading of 4.8 miles. This really is a cheap error for our facility. If there is such a thing as a controlled error; this is it! The problem; I guess; I should not have trusted the winds in uret enough to attend to non-separation task; and monitored the situation more closely until it proved to be true; the winds actually being fairly correct. The pilot of air carrier X kind of argued with me on the second vector; which if he would not have it may have made a difference. [Recommend] monitoring the winds more closely or get a wind report from the aircraft prior to the vector. This error is really a controlled error; embarrassing; really.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller described a loss of separation event when permitting crossing traffic to fly within 4.8 miles; the reporter relying on URET wind information for spacing judgement.

Narrative: I had an operational error between Air Carrier X and Aircraft Y. Both aircraft were at FL370 on a slowly converging course. I recognized the confliction early and; using URET; tried to correct the issue using route separation. However; this proved to not be acceptable. I checked URET for the winds in the area and; according to URET; the winds favored a vector to the north for Air Carrier X. I vectored Air Carrier X 30 degrees left to the north thinking that it would take the aircraft out of the wind and slow the aircraft down. This along with the vector should have worked sufficiently. However; after approximately one minute; I checked the progress of the two aircraft and noticed Air Carrier X had gained 45 KTS; not lost the 20 KTS as I was expecting. I vectored Air Carrier X an additional 15 degrees left and asked the Controller east of me to descend Aircraft Y to FL360. I continued to monitor the situation. I felt we had five miles; but the OEDP gave a reading of 4.8 miles. This really is a cheap error for our facility. If there is such a thing as a controlled error; this is it! The problem; I guess; I should not have trusted the winds in URET enough to attend to non-separation task; and monitored the situation more closely until it proved to be true; the winds actually being fairly correct. The pilot of Air Carrier X kind of argued with me on the second vector; which if he would not have it may have made a difference. [Recommend] monitoring the winds more closely or get a wind report from the aircraft prior to the vector. This error is really a controlled error; embarrassing; really.

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.