Narrative:

The event occurred in the first 2 minutes I was on position and I was the trainer. The tower's traffic was light but the east radar controller was busy. The previous tower controller had cleared a crj for take off. My trainee's first control instruction was to switch the crj to departure within 1 mile of the departure end of runway 4. I was intently watching the crj after he was switched to departure because a PC6 was on a converging course approximately 8 miles northeast of fay. The PC6 was executing practice approaches with fbg. The aircraft was in left traffic for runway 27 at 2;000. When the crj had leveled at 2;000 ft; approximately 5 miles northeast of fay; I instructed my trainee to call the radar controller and ask if she was talking to the crj. I actually spoke on the land line due to the urgency of the situation. The crj responded to an RA to avoid the PC6. I think the crj may have had a difficult time contacting departure due to frequency congestion. We have orbiters' who routinely fly over the fay airport at low levels (as low as 3;500 ft) for 4-5 hours a flight and often twice a day. In some instances; three aircraft will be orbiting over fay simultaneously. They are literally situated in the most complex portion of our airspace and create data block congestion. It can be difficult to see aircraft tag up off the runway due to orbiters. I'm unsure if this contributed but I do think it poses safety risks.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FAY Controller described a conflict event noting the continued 'orbiter' operations near the airport are contributing to these types of instances.

Narrative: The event occurred in the first 2 minutes I was on position and I was the trainer. The Tower's traffic was light but the East RADAR Controller was busy. The previous Tower Controller had cleared a CRJ for take off. My trainee's first control instruction was to switch the CRJ to Departure within 1 mile of the departure end of Runway 4. I was intently watching the CRJ after he was switched to Departure because a PC6 was on a converging course approximately 8 miles northeast of FAY. The PC6 was executing practice approaches with FBG. The aircraft was in left traffic for Runway 27 at 2;000. When the CRJ had leveled at 2;000 FT; approximately 5 miles northeast of FAY; I instructed my trainee to call the RADAR Controller and ask if she was talking to the CRJ. I actually spoke on the land line due to the urgency of the situation. The CRJ responded to an RA to avoid the PC6. I think the CRJ may have had a difficult time contacting Departure due to frequency congestion. We have orbiters' who routinely fly over the FAY airport at low levels (as low as 3;500 FT) for 4-5 hours a flight and often twice a day. In some instances; three aircraft will be orbiting over FAY simultaneously. They are literally situated in the most complex portion of our airspace and create Data Block congestion. It can be difficult to see aircraft tag up off the runway due to orbiters. I'm unsure if this contributed but I do think it poses safety risks.

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.