DC-10 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Human Factors; Weather; Procedure
SLC was in a South Flow configuration with level 1 to level 6 weather throughout S56 airspace creating a lot of weather deviations. Heavy rain; moderate turbulence and in-cloud lightning was reported by several aircraft throughout the evening. As I worked SLC arrivals on Stockton; I over heard the Jordan Controller; who was working straight-out departures from SLC; tell the FLM that his departures were deviating to the southwest (towards oncoming arrivals who were descending to 110; towards precipitous terrain with MVA's up to 127 and climbing to 100); prior to checking-in on frequency; below the MVA (60) with no coordination from SLC Tower. I believe the DC10 was the 4th or 5th departure that deviated. During these deviations I heard the FLM tell the Jordan Controller to advise the aircraft to; 'maintain their own terrain and obstruction clearance'. It was obvious to me that the Jordan Controller did not believe this was a safe solution to the problem and placed his SLC 'straight out' departures on call-for-release/ hold-for-release. It was after the Jordan Controller did this that the S56 FLM and SLC FLM coordinated a different heading off the airport so aircraft on this routing could avoid this situation. I also overheard a controller suggest this while the Jordan Controller and FLM began initial discussions on the matter. The number of aircraft that were allowed to depart on a known unsafe route and the amount of time it took to create a safe solution was alarming and I don't think a Controller can or should tell an IFR aircraft who departed a controlled airport to maintain their own terrain and obstruction clearance after they have departed; especially if you don't ask the aircraft if they have the terrain in sight prior to telling them. There was a large amount of uncertainty and confusion during this not-so complex situation and its obvious to me that there was a lack of leadership.
S56 Controller voiced concern regarding an unsafe condition when SLC departures were deviating for weather and entering MVA areas below the required altitude; the reporter questioning the actions of management decisions.