Approach controller described a potential conflict event when convinced by a pilot request; changed ...

Narrative:

Air carrier X was holding at 3;000 ft and aircraft Y was holding at 4;000 ft when the airport suddenly went above minimums. I vectored aircraft Y to follow air carrier X who was on his procedure turn inbound [and] had asked for a close turn. Aircraft Y asked if he could get in front of air carrier X who was 8 miles outside the final approach fix on the approach. Aircraft Y asked for the close turn and I immediately turned him and descended him to get in front of air carrier X. His roll out was slightly longer than expected so I pulled air carrier X off the final for spacing. I cleared both aircraft again with speed restriction. Based on what I could see; I'm not completely sure I lost separation. However; when aircraft Y was on about a 1 mile final; he did slow down. I believe I did have separation the entire time. The conflict alert never did alarm. What I should have done was not force an unnecessary situation based on an aircraft request. We are a seasonal facility and this was the first heavy traffic day and I may not have been up to my capability to attempt such a maneuver. I also could have realized the situation was developing and given air carrier X a more drastic turn to accommodate the request. It was bad planning on my part.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Approach Controller described a potential conflict event when convinced by a pilot request; changed the sequence out of a holding pattern and turns to final were wider than anticipated.

Narrative: Air Carrier X was holding at 3;000 FT and Aircraft Y was holding at 4;000 FT when the airport suddenly went above minimums. I vectored Aircraft Y to follow Air Carrier X who was on his procedure turn inbound [and] had asked for a close turn. Aircraft Y asked if he could get in front of Air Carrier X who was 8 miles outside the final approach fix on the approach. Aircraft Y asked for the close turn and I immediately turned him and descended him to get in front of Air Carrier X. His roll out was slightly longer than expected so I pulled Air Carrier X off the final for spacing. I cleared both aircraft again with speed restriction. Based on what I could see; I'm not completely sure I lost separation. However; when aircraft Y was on about a 1 mile final; he did slow down. I believe I did have separation the entire time. The Conflict Alert never did alarm. What I should have done was not force an unnecessary situation based on an aircraft request. We are a seasonal facility and this was the first heavy traffic day and I may not have been up to my capability to attempt such a maneuver. I also could have realized the situation was developing and given Air Carrier X a more drastic turn to accommodate the request. It was bad planning on my part.

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	950527
Time
Date	201105
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Caravan Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Chancellor 414A & C414
Flight Phase	Final 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

Approach controller described a potential conflict event when convinced by a pilot request; changed the sequence out of a holding pattern and turns to final were wider than anticipated.