TRACON controller described a low altitude event when a non-mode C IFR departure apparently was not ...

Narrative:

King air departed with a non-operational mode-C. I had them report their altitude and try and re-cycle their transponder. I then also turned them to a heading of 340 to get them on course. I thought I climbed them to 14;000 as is our [standard] hand off with the center. In the meantime; a controller change was in progress and I said I would coordinate with the center that the aircraft mode-C was inoperative. As I was doing so; the king air reported a terrain warning to which the other controller climbed them immediately and asked if they had been assigned 14;000. They responded that they had not been. Contributing to the problem was I asked them what altitude they were at so I could issue a point out to another sector and I believed they said they were leaving 4;000; but they must have said they were level at 4;000. I think I would have checked his altitude on my own prior to the altitude warning and realized I forgot to climb them if a controller change was not in progress; so that was a cause. Also not being able to see the altitude was obviously the main problem; but I still should have made sure they were climbing. Always double check the altitude of someone with an invalid mode-C even if you think you climbed them.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: TRACON Controller described a low altitude event when a non-Mode C IFR departure apparently was not issued a climb to the appropriate altitude; the reporter noting position relief distractions and malfunctioning Mode C as a causal factors.

Narrative: King Air departed with a non-operational Mode-C. I had them report their altitude and try and re-cycle their transponder. I then also turned them to a heading of 340 to get them on course. I thought I climbed them to 14;000 as is our [standard] hand off with the Center. In the meantime; a controller change was in progress and I said I would coordinate with the Center that the aircraft Mode-C was inoperative. As I was doing so; the King Air reported a terrain warning to which the other controller climbed them immediately and asked if they had been assigned 14;000. They responded that they had not been. Contributing to the problem was I asked them what altitude they were at so I could issue a point out to another sector and I believed they said they were leaving 4;000; but they must have said they were level at 4;000. I think I would have checked his altitude on my own prior to the altitude warning and realized I forgot to climb them if a controller change was not in progress; so that was a cause. Also not being able to see the altitude was obviously the main problem; but I still should have made sure they were climbing. Always double check the altitude of someone with an invalid Mode-C even if you think you climbed them.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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	990038
Time
Date	201201
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Super King Air 200
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Approach Departure
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT

TRACON controller described a low altitude event when a non-mode C IFR departure apparently was not issued a climb to the appropriate altitude; the reporter noting position relief distractions and malfunctioning mode C as a causal factors.