Small Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2
Communication Breakdown; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors; Staffing
Working North sector we had numerous training pilots who were missing control instructions; needing information repeated; and requiring extra attention. After approximately 30 minutes of this I asked the Supervisor if I could be moved to a different position after an hour on North; the Supervisor laughed and walked away. About 5 minutes later the FD controller walked to the Supervisor and informed them I needed help. At this point I had stopped SFB departures for about 5 minutes to help get it under control. A few minutes later another Supervisor came over and I informed them I wasn't giving any more practice approaches - they laughed and began to walk away at which time I informed them I was serious. He then walked over and asked me what he wanted me to do - I informed him it was his call and didn't care but frequency congestion was an issue. As he left he informed me that I only had 5 aircraft; failing to consider the entire scenario. Open more positions for the North sector. Three times Supervisors where informed of an issue and it wasn't until I told them I wouldn't provide services that they did anything. The North sector is too busy to continue to allow it to be worked how it is. No attention was given to the position when I asked for relieve after an hour; when the FD controller informed the FLM I needed help; or when I stopped departures. It wasn't until I informed them I wasn't providing multiple approaches that they opened a secondary position. The fix is simple; open the sectors we have available to us; Oviedo or Paola.
F11 TRACON Controller reported being busy; asking for help; and being laughed at three times by Front Line Managers. The Controller needed the sector to be split.