Commercial Fixed Wing
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 8
Time Pressure; Situational Awareness; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Human Factors; Procedure; Airspace Structure; Weather
I was working a combined sector. Weather throughout Center airspace and the Warning Areas had a unique airspace configuration. It started off as a very routine session; but I could feel it building quickly. The oceanic traffic was being offloaded inland. As it was building; we had to do a combat split of the sector; and I don't believe it was recorded. If it was recorded; it wasn't all recorded because we had to get to work. We went from very low green sectors to very high yellow and sometimes red sectors. Most aircraft were deviating. The adjacent Center was giving aircraft routings that took them into the warning areas. This is significant because these are aircraft they work every day; and likely know they are putting them on bad routes. This is technically in compliance with the Letter of Agreement; but completely different routings than they give day after day for normal operations on airplanes filed to the same destinations filing inland. In other words; they should know the correct routings these aircraft should have filed. I asked for a D-side; however one was not immediately available. While all this was happening; the Operations Manager was trying to tell me to ask if a deviating pilot had any injuries on board from a severe turbulence episode he had suffered on a previous frequency. Before you knew it; I had lost the flick. I managed to fight my way back; but as my D-side was plugging in I noticed 3 or 4 aircraft nearing or inside of Warning Area airspace without a point out. I immediately called to coordinate and they said point out approved. I also had one aircraft get into another sector without a hand-off while checking and correcting these routings. The adjacent Center works aircraft on these routings every day that file inland. They should be familiar with these routings. Giving aircraft the first fix outside their airspace; followed by a hard right turn into the warning areas to tie them back into their filed routes coming off the ocean is unacceptable. It significantly and needlessly increased our workload. Also; we did not have the staffing to give us the D-sides that we very much needed at our sectors in order to catch these routes and to deliver the level of service to the user that they deserve. We need more bodies to staff the positions. Since we can't get bodies overnight; our TMU (Traffic Management Unit) needs to be in communication with the adjacent Center TMU in order to ensure the correct routings are being issued.
ZJX Center Controller reported losing the situational picture and an airspace violation occurred while working an overloaded sector due to weather deviations and receiving aircraft on incorrect routes.