Regional Jet CL65; Undifferentiated or Other Model
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 7
Situational Awareness; Confusion; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Training / Qualification
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Manuals; Procedure
I had just taken the position. I was briefed on a departure which I climbed and switched to ZMA. I was only on position a few minutes when I was relieved from the position to move over and split off the position. This was done by a supervisor and a trainee as the trainee was certified on the departure sector but not the arrival one. After opening the Arrival position and working for a few minutes I overheard the Departure Controller asking the position of an aircraft. This aircraft ended up being a regional jet that had departed and tagged up approximately 40-50 miles north of the airport. The Departure Controller asked if I talked to the aircraft before the sector split. I stated that I had not talked to the aircraft and had no idea they took off. I did not observe a data tag or an untagged secondary target at any time. I do not recall ever hearing the aircraft check-in and as a result never radar identified it. I did have other aircraft on my frequency that required my attention away from the departure side of the airport as well as weather beginning to build in the airspace. I never received a 'no tag' call from the Tower on departure.[I recommend] a reminder to the workforce that the PBI Standard Operating Procedure requires the Tower to notify the TRACON within 3 miles of any departures that have not tagged. Do not switch aircraft to departure control from local control until an acquired tag is observed. Do not continue to have a departure SID level off at an altitude that is in direct conflict with an arrival descent procedure.In light of this; I do accept responsibility in that I should have observed the primary target in my airspace and questioned it. Also; the tower did scan the departure strip but I did not check the printer for it. While not required; this is a practice I normally do workload permitting and will make sure my focus always stays sharp in the future with regard to this.
TRACON Controller reported a departure did not tag up on the radar display and was not detected until flying 40 to 50 miles.