SA-227 AC Metro III
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 5
Situational Awareness; Distraction; Confusion; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic; Flight Crew Executed Go Around / Missed Approach
Procedure; Human Factors; Airspace Structure; Airport; Chart Or Publication
Aircraft X wanted an approach into [ZZZ1]. [Two Restricted Area's] were active at the time. An inbound was called to [ZZZ1] tower for a visual approach. Aircraft X then checked on and wanted to do a GPS approach and was cleared via the fixes to start it. Another call was made to [ZZZ1] tower who answered '[ZZZ1] tower' to update that Aircraft X was now going to be doing the GPS approach. A few minutes later [ZZZ1] Tower called back to get an update on Aircraft X and requested to talk to him ASAP as they had traffic for him. I gave him the clearance for the approach and shipped him to the tower frequency. As Aircraft X was doing the approach I made sure that all coordination was accomplished for the rest of his flight. Aircraft X then called up while starting the missed approach procedures. I asked him if the tower was told about the missed approach and he said that there was no tower active today. That confused me since I just talked to the tower and he took the inbound calls. I then realized he was becoming very close to flying into [a Restricted Area] and since the tower wasnt open no one had shut off [Restricted Area] for the approach. I made sure that Aircraft X was above the MIA and vectored him to miss the military airspace. After the confusion was taken care of and the aircraft was safely away from any airspace I told the Front Line Manager to try and figure out what was happening. He called and talked to the tower and he was told that no one was working at the tower and only on the UNICOM frequency. Even though it had a NOTAM that it was closed; I thought it was open due to all the coordination that was accomplished.Make sure that when the tower is closed that people aren't there working and taking inbounds or IFR traffic. This caused confusion whether the tower was open or not. It also made enough confusion that the military airspace was not shut off and an IFR Aircraft almost flew into it.
I was being relieved from the R-side. I accepted a handoff from [another] sector on an aircraft that was landing [ZZZ1]. I decided to take care of [forwarding] the inbound [information]to [airport] tower quickly during my briefing. I called and completed an inbound call to [ZZZ1] Tower stating that I thought it would be for a visual approach. I finished my briefing and I advised the relieving controller that I had guessed that it would be a visual approach for Aircraft X and that he should double check with the pilot when he checked on. I left for my break and left the facility at shift end. The rest I became aware of later. Apparently; [ZZZ1] Tower was not open at the time and someone who was not a tower operator took the inbound. The relieving controller continued to coordinate with '[ZZZ1 Tower]' several times including the change to the inbound to an IFR approach. ([ZZZ1] tower is responsible for the activation and deactivation of restricted area during IFR approaches). Aircraft X was issued an IFR approach that was not seperated from [Restricted Area] and expected [ZZZ1] Tower to deactivate RXXXX [restricted area] for the missed approach procedure. The pilot called back during the missed approach looking for an IFR clearance back to his other destination. The controller realized something was amiss and that the Pilot said that [ZZZ1] tower was not open and that he did not speak to a tower controller. The Radar controller then issued a vector to Aircraft X to miss the restricted area which was accopmlished in time and did NOT result in a violation of the restricted area.As a [ARTCC] controller I should have realized that [ZZZ1]was not actually open. The staff operating at [ZZZ1] Tower should not answer the line from [ARTCC] and take an inbound as if they were a certified tower operator.
An ARTCC facility cleared an aircraft for an IFR approach to the airport which authorizes the published Missed Approach. The published missed approach for this airport enters military Restricted Areas. The Airport Tower; when open; is responsible for coordination use of the Restricted Airspace for an aircraft on approach. The ARTCC Controllers called the Tower to coordinate the inbound approach. Someone took the coordination calls. Both ARTCC Controllers assumed the Tower was open since they received and acknowledged the coordination. On Missed Approach the aircraft called the ARTCC Controller which alerted the ARTCC Controller that the Tower was not really open. The ARTCC Controller was able to vector the aircraft away from the Restricted Airspace prior to it entering.