No Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Human Factors
Restricted Area R-ABCD had been active for over an hour and a half; from the surface to FL300; without my knowledge! R-ABCD went active at XA00Z; and I took over the sector shortly after that time; around XB05Z. I recalled no mention of the Restricted Area status in the position relief briefing; nor was the restricted area depicted on my scope. It is normally not used much on the weekends; so I did not question it. About an hour and a half later (around XC45Z); another controller asked me if the restricted area was hot. My reply was; 'No.' He said the ESIS (Enhanced Status Information System) is showing that it went hot at XA00Z. I immediately asked my supervisor and Approach Control if R-ABCD was hot; and they said 'Yes.'Restricted Area was being used for artillery fire from the surface to 30;000 FT. My sector owns from the surface to 23;000 FT. This is a big safety issue. Imagine what could've happened during that hour and a half that it was active without my knowing it. The only way our sector gets notified of the Restricted Area's status is from a screen on the wall called the ESIS. It can be written in different formats; the information can be placed in different locations on the screen... It is not the best 'attention-getter' for such a crucial piece of information. Sometimes the supervisor will verbally announce that 'There are Restricted Area times posted.' And even then; that may be hours in advance; leaving plenty of chances for the error chain to develop. There needs to be a better system for notifying the affected sectors of the Restricted Area's status. Maybe a required call from Approach to Center at the time it goes active; to make sure we're on the same page; or a required reminder from the supervisor or TMC coordinator when it goes active (A check and balance system). An even better automated solution would be to have the Restricted Area; MOA; etc automatically display on your scope when it goes active (or maybe 5 minutes prior). This would require a lot of automation; and would depend on accurate time input on someone's part; but in this day and age; there should be a better system.
ZME Controller reported a restricted area within his sector was hot for 90 minutes without his knowledge. Reporter suggests an automation solution.