B2 Spirit/Bomber
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 20.0
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure
A military flight of three aircraft requested clearance into a MOA. There was no paperwork indicating there was prior coordination of the MOA. I verified with Flight Data there were no military slips indicating coordination for the MOA had been scheduled. There were none. I queried the Operations Manager as to what to do; they referred me to the sectional chart that shows daily NOTAM times for the airspace and said it was OK to allow the aircraft to use the MOA and said most times are scheduled on the sectional chart above the sector. It was difficult to read the sectional chart above the busy sector. I made call to allow the three aircraft to operate in the MOA stating I would be responsible for the action. Later I discussed the situation with the Flight Data Manager; she confirmed there were no scheduled times for the MOA. The flight progress strip stated in remarks that the aircraft was requesting the MOA; but we had no prior approval. The next day; I spoke with the ZKC military coordinator about the occurrence. He was able to discuss the incident with the Military scheduler for the aircraft. He stated that he had 'dropped the ball' and apologized for the scheduling mishap. He thanked our military scheduler for the ZKC allowing the aircraft into the area to do their testing. This is the second time in four months I have had a military scheduling error that caused a huge disruption in the sector operation. ZKC sectors go out of our way to accommodate and assist military training as best we can; but scheduling issues such as these put the safety of the flying public at risk when ATC is unable to plan for what traffic issues may arise at any given time. Better scheduling procedures for the military to allow ZKC the proper planning to accommodate necessary training.
A military flight of aircraft requested clearance into a MOA. The ZKC Controller had none of the required approval information to allow the aircraft to enter. The Controller's Operations Manager told the Controller it was approved to clear the aircraft in to the MOA. The Operations Manager told the Controller they should take time to look at the sectional chart displayed above his radar display and read the NOTAM times the MOA is active even though this action would take the controllers attention away from their radar display. Upon reviewing the incident it was discovered the Military office responsible for coordinating the MOA use had forgot to schedule the airspace for the aircraft.