Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 15
Troubleshooting; Workload; Confusion; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Staffing; Human Factors
I walked in to this event as it was occurring. I had just completed a meeting with an employee; returned to the TRACON and was assigned to relieve the Supervisor on the Front Line (ORD Arrival) by the OM. I walked up to the Front Line to find the controllers scrambling to regain control of the operation. The Supervisor was working one of the two monitor positions out of necessity due to no controller immediately available to staff the position. I was advised that visual approaches were being utilized when pilots began to have trouble seeing the airport. The one Traffic Management Specialist on the shift had taken a break and the Front Line Supervisor was also assigned the Departure Line duties as well.An aircraft had landed ORD RWY 28C and had a tire blow out on the runway which closed the runway. Aircraft on approach were going missed approach with no one available to coordinate; manage the situation; or provide support. I immediately began working to help rectify the situation through answering the ORD Tower line; working with the Main Arrival Controller (MAC) to put two arrival fixes in the hold; and coordinate the missed approaches with the Departure Controllers. The MAC was way too busy with no one available to support him.The RWY 28C Controller had his aircraft in the pattern in addition to receiving the missed approaches back on his frequency. He was rapidly becoming overloaded with no runway to vector to. My instructions to him were that if I couldn't get another runway for him to just vector back to the RWY 28C localizer and run his aircraft around the pattern. Fortunately; ORD Tower allowed us to share their departure RWY 28R to get caught up and we were able to come out of the hold and get back to normal. To add to our complexities; immediately following this event we began the daily runway checks and completed a configuration change from west flow to east flow all the while RWY 28C/10C remained closed.The other Supervisor had been relieved off the monitor position by a controller. After my personal review of this event; I believe that the other Supervisor was put in a very difficult situation. Covering the Front Line; Departure Line; and the Traffic Management position is more than enough for one individual to manage during the day. This is said with the understanding that everything is going smoothly. As stated previously; the Supervisor had to assume a Monitor Control position due to the visual approaches no longer being an option. In short; there was no one to provide any sort of guidance or support. Then; RWY 28C closed!There was an Operations Manager sitting at the Operations desk while all this was transpiring. However; he did not provide any operational support or guidance. Only after I told him to get me a departure CIC; did he take the shift list and send that controller over to cover the departure line.I walked into this situation with no briefing and having to figure it out on the fly. I'm very proud of our controllers and we worked together as a team to regain order and preserve safety. There are quite a few safety elements present in this event; too many to write about. I am so very proud of how our agency and our people have been committed to and worked diligently to being a Safety Culture over this past decade. It is with great concern that I now question our current commitment to minimizing risk and I pray (I really do) that we do not turn back on our incredible progress.I believe when reporting began years ago; I may have filed a report to learn how it worked. I do not recall ever filing another report since then. As an Operations Supervisor at Chicago TRACON; my peers and I have repeatedly raised issue with actions and the direction of our facility. In my opinion; we Operations Supervisors are ignored. I also believe many of my peers believe the same. When we raise issues; I believe we are viewed as trouble makers and we are treated as such. In the past; we were encouragedto speak openly and honestly; this is no longer the environment we exist in today.I have now chosen to file this report because I do not know where else to turn. I'm sure you've noticed that I have chosen not to share this report with my facility. I have made this choice due to my firm belief that at some point; retribution will come my way due to raising these issues. When it does; it will most certainly be from some other unrelated event or issue. This event occurred and we were able to regain order. However; in this event; multiple holes in this Swiss cheese were aligned and the level of uncertainty that was present for a brief moment was at a level that none of us should ever be comfortable with! What you see and hear is just the tip of the ice berg. Please look below the water line. Our facility needs help!
C90 TRACON Front Line Manager reported assuming a position with no briefing and the controllers scrambling to regain control of the TRACON sectors.