Small Aircraft
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 2
Time Pressure; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic; Flight Crew Landed in Emergency Condition; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft; Company Policy; Human Factors
Aircraft X departed [Runway] XXL and I requested that they make an early turn to the north so I could depart an IFR small transport behind them. Shortly after clearing the small transport for takeoff; I hear MAYDAY on the frequency; and it was Aircraft X with an engine out. They requested to land Runway XY. I was working the Tower all by myself; so the first thing I did was go and cancel take off clearance for the small transport; and then left them in position on the runway. I had aircraft taxiing and cleared to cross Runway XY; so I also went to them and took away their crossing clearance. I cleared Aircraft X to land Runway XY (after incorrectly saying Runway XZ first); and then I immediately went to the hand held radio to alert emergency services since I was also working CIC (Controller in Charge). Aircraft X rolled onto Runway XY safely and exited onto Runway XXR and then onto a taxiway.I canceled the alert with emergency services because the aircraft was fine; but I had to coordinate with the airport to see if they wanted to inspect Runway XY before I used it or crossed it. This entire time I had [another] small aircraft on final as well; but they were never cleared to land. I told the small aircraft to land Runway XXR instead of XXL because I had the small transport waiting there and I was still waiting to hear back from the airport. I was also actively trying to call someone to the tower to assist me with coordination and reporting since I was all alone. The small aircraft ended up not hearing my instructions; so they maneuvered on final until it was clear what I wanted them to do; and they had heard the emergency on frequency so they were aware that I was busy with that. Once that was all cleared up; Airport Ops came out to tow Aircraft X back to parking. We need more staffing. I was working too many aircraft to be able to effectively handle what was going on; especially if things were worse. I was responsible for too much airspace and ground operations simultaneously. I was unable to provide additional services during this event. The complexity of this situation was unsafe; I had to stop several aircraft from crossing the runway used for emergency landing and they were split between 2 frequencies; so read backs were not insured. We did not have enough people to run this shift; and it was very uncomfortable in this emergency situation. I was following a TMI (Traffic Management Initiative) at the time; and it was still too complex. I have said in previous reports that we need 15 people for our staffing number but I think we may need more. In order to alleviate frequency congestion; split responsibilities; have oversight; and just have one person on break to keep a minimal rotation during our high traffic volume hours we need the following:opening shift- 2 CPC7am shift- 2 CPC9am shift- 2 CPC1pm shift- 2 CPCclosing shift- 2 CPCThe above plan will allow us to have Local Controls; Ground Control and Controller in Charge all decombined and with someone on break to have a rotation that avoids anyone going over 2 hours. This plan is 10 Certified Controllers each day; and our current MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) is 7 Certified Controllers each day. Our current MOU (which we don't even meet most days because of controllers out for unforeseen circumstances). To cover 10 Certified Controllers per day and to allow for just one or two people to have bid leave each day; we need at least 17 Certified Controllers. Keep in mind if we have 17 Certified Controllers we can still lose them yo transfers so you may consider a larger number than that. IFR traffic has been steadily increasing at this airport as ever since we brought in a 2nd FBO (Fixed Base Operator); and other expansions are happening. So it wouldn't be a surprise if we may even want to regularly decombine clearance delivery eventually.
Tower Controller working all positions combined alone in the Tower reported a departing aircraft had an engine failure and returned to land safely. The Controller reported they were unable to provide all required services and the situation was unsafe due to them having to work alone in the tower due to insufficient Controller staffing at the Tower.