Medium Transport
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Workload; Communication Breakdown
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert
Procedure; Staffing; ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings
Aircraft X was on a visual approach to Runway 10R. After being cleared to land; the low altitude alert went off and the Local Controller issued a low altitude alert to the pilot; and the aircraft was observed at 1;800 feet MSL; about 5 miles southwest of the airport; and appeared to [be] flying eastbound; as if the aircraft mistook something else for the airport. In the vicinity where the aircraft was; the MVA is 2;700 feet; and there are antennas and building obstructions in the area. Being that far away from the airport; at such a low altitude (potentially only 100 feet above obstructions); the low altitude alert should have gone off in a much more timely manner. After the Local Controller issued the low altitude alert; the pilot climbed up several hundred feet; and corrected towards the airport and landed without incident. Due to our staffing shortage; we were forced to work with only two controllers in the tower; at the time. The Local Controller was also working Ground Control. If we would have had a Ground Controller; and if CIC wasn't forced to be combined with another position; this situation may have not occurred; due to controllers being able to dedicate more attention to specific aircraft. This low altitude may have been noticed before to low altitude alert went off. If the low altitude alert worked properly; the pilot may have gotten this alert sooner; thus avoiding such an extremely low; and unsafe altitude. The low altitude and conflict alerts do not seem to go off at proper times. I have filed a report previously on conflict alerts. The parameters of the MSAW alerts needs to be looked into; and possibly changed; to create a safer environment. Even more important; our staffing shortage could have contributed to something catastrophic; had this situation not resolved itself correctly. We continue to be overworked; and understaffed. This staffing crisis needs to be corrected.
Controller reported that workload and a system malfunction caused a delay in issuing a low altitude alert to an aircraft that had descended below the MVA.