P31 controller described a near loss of separation event; noting that the current automation fails t...

Narrative:

While working the a-ar; I accepted a handoff on aircraft Y; 24;000 ft southbound over nse arriving npa as per LOA. I then observed air carrier X; 15 south of cew westbound at 24;000 ft; converging with aircraft Y. As soon as aircraft Y checked on I descended him without delay to 22;000 ft to avoid this conflict. As I was doing so; ZJX was calling me to inform me of the conflict and I told them what I was doing about it. The problem here is that aircraft on flight plans that will over-fly us from 24;000 ft or higher automate with the e-ar; even though the e-ar has no airspace above 16;000 ft. When I observed air carrier X; it was a limited data block and was displayed on and automating with the e-ar; but was anticipated to enter the a-ar airspace if descended further. It could have gone completely unnoticed! Recommendation; change the automation so high altitude over-flights will automate with the a-ar and the correct positions will have a full data block with more time to plan and execute separation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: P31 Controller described a near loss of separation event; noting that the current automation fails to display needed information at the correct position/display.

Narrative: While working the A-AR; I accepted a handoff on aircraft Y; 24;000 FT southbound over NSE arriving NPA as per LOA. I then observed Air Carrier X; 15 south of CEW westbound at 24;000 FT; converging with aircraft Y. As soon as aircraft Y checked on I descended him without delay to 22;000 FT to avoid this conflict. As I was doing so; ZJX was calling me to inform me of the conflict and I told them what I was doing about it. The problem here is that aircraft on flight plans that will over-fly us from 24;000 FT or higher automate with the E-AR; even though the E-AR has no airspace above 16;000 FT. When I observed Air Carrier X; it was a limited data block and was displayed on and automating with the E-AR; but was anticipated to enter the A-AR airspace if descended further. It could have gone completely unnoticed! Recommendation; change the automation so high altitude over-flights will automate with the A-AR and the correct positions will have a full data block with more time to plan and execute separation.

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	984478
Time
Date	201112
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	P31.TRACON
State Reference	FL
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737-400
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	Beechjet 400
Flight Phase	Descent
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Conflict Airborne Conflict

P31 controller described a near loss of separation event; noting that the current automation fails to display needed information at the correct position/display.