Enroute controller described a loss of separation event when failing to issue corrective action in a...

Narrative:

I have less than 20 hours of experience at the sector after certification. It is a new sector; as a result of the airspace redesign. I took the hand off on an A320 out of FL310 climbing to FL360. As I took the hand off; I realized that his climb was in confliction with the B757 at FL350. Being new to the sector; I ran through the options I had to resolve the confliction. I decided not to stop the A320's climb at FL340; because I would have been stopping him in another sector; and they had converging traffic at FL340. I decided to turn the A320; and did the coordination to turn him while he was still outside my airspace. I asked the A320 if he could be level at FL360 in time to clear the B757. I did not issue a time clearance. He said he would be level; but I still issued the turn away from the B757. As I watched the situation; I realized that the A320 would not top the B757; so I turned the B757. I did not turn both aircraft enough to ensure 5 miles of separation. Recommendation; possibly have a requirement in the SOP for sectors X and Y only climb southbound traffic to FL340 and hand them off to sector Z if they will not be level at FL360 or higher within 10 miles of crossing the common sector boundary. Additionally I lack experience/time at the sector due to the facility's airspace redesign.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Enroute Controller described a loss of separation event when failing to issue corrective action in a timely manner; the reporter listed experience level and familiarity with new airspace as contributing factors.

Narrative: I have less than 20 hours of experience at the sector after certification. It is a new sector; as a result of the airspace redesign. I took the hand off on an A320 out of FL310 climbing to FL360. As I took the hand off; I realized that his climb was in confliction with the B757 at FL350. Being new to the sector; I ran through the options I had to resolve the confliction. I decided not to stop the A320's climb at FL340; because I would have been stopping him in another sector; and they had converging traffic at FL340. I decided to turn the A320; and did the coordination to turn him while he was still outside my airspace. I asked the A320 if he could be level at FL360 in time to clear the B757. I did not issue a time clearance. He said he would be level; but I still issued the turn away from the B757. As I watched the situation; I realized that the A320 would not top the B757; so I turned the B757. I did not turn both aircraft enough to ensure 5 miles of separation. Recommendation; possibly have a requirement in the SOP for Sectors X and Y only climb southbound traffic to FL340 and hand them off to Sector Z if they will not be level at FL360 or higher within 10 miles of crossing the common sector boundary. Additionally I lack experience/time at the sector due to the facility's airspace redesign.

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	996702
Time
Date	201202
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Make Model Name	A320
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Enroute controller described a loss of separation event when failing to issue corrective action in a timely manner; the reporter listed experience level and familiarity with new airspace as contributing factors.