Small Aircraft; High Wing; 1 Eng; Fixed Gear
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 3
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Airspace Structure; Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors
Aircraft X arrived from the south east at 110 where ZZZ has a MVA (Minimum Vectoring Altitude) at the highest point of 115. I do not know if ZZZ1 has the same or lower MVA in that area. Per the LOA with ZZZ1 any arrivals in this area 130 or lower; must be on an airway and verbally coordinated. There was no coordination from ZZZ1.  OJTI was being conducted at the Approach position; I was the OS in the TRACON. Due to COVID social distancing requirements the OJTI was working from the 'B' scope; the trainee was working from the 'A' scope and I was at the OS desk. There is no radar scope or secondary monitor available at the OS desk to observe traffic; so I was unable to see the altitude of the aircraft. A regional jet that was about to be switched to the Tower told approach that an aircraft was trying to call approach and at that point I was able to observe Aircraft X at the altitude below the MVA. Aircraft X eventually was able to reach approach on radio and landed without incident.-Review ZZZ1-ZZZ LOA-Add a non-certified radar display at the ZZZ TRACON OS desk-Check the MVAs to the south east of ZZZ to see if there are any discrepancies between ZZZ1 and ZZZ MVAs.
I am training the trainee on approach control. Three arrivals scheduled with close arrival times. Trainee accepted all three handoffs back to back well outside of our airspace boundary; further away than normal. He was not aware that Aircraft X was flying a wrong altitude for direction of flight as well as 500 feet below the MVA we have depicted on our maps until after accepting the handoff.  Neither of these two issues were coordinated between either facility. Aircraft landed without issue.We need to have matching MVA maps with ZZZ1. This could be a real issue in the future. That aircraft was 500 feet below our MVA and could not reach us on radio due to the terrain.
Controllers reported an aircraft that they were not talking to was on an IFR flight plan; below the MVA and NORDO.