No Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Supervisory 2
Workload; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types
General Maintenance Action
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Human Factors; Company Policy; Procedure
There have been 2 incidents in the last week with Maintenance and personnel that affect the security and safety of the Tower and how we are able to do our job. Most critically; at time/date; the ASOS [Automated Surface Observing System] Display Screen (OID) [Operator Interface Device] alarmed and went blank. The ASOS OID is how the Tower gets real time weather information; SPECI's and METARs as well as how we coordinate/disseminate Tower Visibility when needed. It is how we are notified if the weather goes below VFR minima (or returns to VFR) and of course how we know to update or change the ATIS due to changes in the weather. The ASOS OID alerts us to the changes that require notification. So it is a critical part of doing our job and part of the safe use of the NAS.Due to reduced staffing/COVID Crew Schedule; I had recently taken all positions to give my crew partner a break (after working approximately 1.5 hrs). So I was working GC/LC and CIC/OS which increased the complexity; while the traffic was still light. I spent some time trying to reset the equipment (ASOS computer/OID) then turned it off and on and tried to reset again with no results. Then I called the Contract Weather Observer's (CWO) Office to see if their OID was affected by this or working properly and to ask them to notify the Tower of any changes to the weather (fax the METAR and SPECI's) - there was no answer. In between working the radios; I called SOC [Service Operations Center] to let them know the ASOS OID was out and to ask if they could contact the Maintenance; since it was not FAA equipment (just looking for some help since unable to get a hold of CWO). SOC said they would check and get back to me. Tried CWO office again; no answer. SOC called and stated that the coordination point for ASOS outages was FSS; also advised that the dial up to the ASOS was also not working (so at least I could conclude it likely wasn't just my display). I knew this was wrong - FSS does not handle notification for the ASOS being OTS; but I made the call to FSS anyway since SOC was so insistent. They were also confused by this.I tried CWO office again and finally got an answer from name; the primary CWO. I told him that our ASOS OID was blank and would not reset and asked if his was also out. He said of course it is out; Maintenance is working on the ASOS. I then said; ok you will need to fax us the METAR and any Specials. He said; I always do when maintenance works on the equipment. I said I understand but we did not know that they were working on the equipment; it just went dead and I had no idea. His response was; well there had not been any changes to the weather; if the weather had changed then I would have called you! This made me very upset; because he had no clear understanding of how important the equipment was and I had to spend a lot of time and attention troubleshooting something that I should have already been notified about! I said to the CWO; that their communication was not good with this; all they had to do was call the Tower (they have the number and call us regularly if issues arise) and let us know that the equipment was being taken out for maintenance. He then started arguing about that saying he didn't need to do that; we just needed to call him to ask. Which by the way I did; but he did not answer his phone! I had to go to talk on the radio; then came back and told him I would notify as needed. I called FSS and asked them to issue a NOTAM.Then it turns out that the CWO had to call every hour at about 53 [past the hour] and get the current wind and altimeter from the Tower (also he did not correctly convert the magnetic wind readings we gave him to true wind for the METAR). He did also give us the hourly METAR in this phone call. Also earlier in the week the ASOS Maintenance person from the NWS [National Weather Service]; just showed up at the secure door to the tower with no coordination or notification; asking the Tower to buzz him in because he had to work on the ASOS now. He had gotten an access key to the bottom secure door and the tech ops equipment room; from tech ops that morning. Tech ops had not notified us of this at all and the NWS Maintenance person had not let anyone know (including tech ops) that he would need to go into the tower cab to do some of his maintenance work. He just surprised the Tower personnel by turning up at a secure door in our stairwell asking to be let in. The CIC did the correct thing and said no; I need approval and then coordinated with the ATM. the NWS/ASOS Maintenance specialist was put out that he was expected to check in at the Tower offices and get approval to work in the Tower cab; even though that was told to NWS personnel previously. He was badged and escorted by FAA personnel.While the ASOS is clearly the NWS's equipment; that does not mean they have no responsibility to notify the FAA so that pertinent personnel can be notified and a NOTAM can be issued. There are safety reasons we have this equipment and use this equipment and there have to be standards that all contractors are made to comply with so that we can continue to serve the users safely. The CWO is not interested or willing to work professionally with the Tower. If the contractor doing the weather is unwilling or unable to recognize the safety critical aspects of his job and comply with critical notifications and coordinations; then maybe the best answer is for the Tower to become certified weather observers and take the weather during the hours the Tower is operational. That is the way it was done for years and it worked very smoothly and safely. Meanwhile under the current CWO;  there needs to be an LOA with the CWO/NWS that outlines required notifications and processes for handling outages (not sure that calling us every hour at a specific time to read us the METAR is the most efficient thing - I would suggest faxing it to us is less distracting) as well as dissemination of Tower Visibility; and notification of corrections to METARs (the ASOS OID will alert if a SPECI or METAR is issued but does NOT alert if an observation is corrected - so we have no way to know).
Tower Front Line Manager reported problems with the ASOS failure and notification from the Contract Weather Observer.