Small Transport; Low Wing; 2 Turboprop Eng
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 4
Situational Awareness; Confusion
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation - Track / Heading All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance
Company Policy; Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure; Manuals
Aircraft X was performing maneuvers to check the ILS system at a satellite airport. I received a briefing from my Supervisor when I arrived and he told me what to expect; as is now required. I assume everyone else got the same briefing. I got back from break and begin working the assist position. At this time; Aircraft X had already departed and began the inspection at the satellite airport. I took over the Departure Control position. As I was taking the position; I heard a Supervisor on the phone talking to the Tower about how Aircraft X was going to start performing the arc turns. I had assumed the previous Departure Controller already pointed out Aircraft X to the Tower; since Aircraft X was already performing the inspection and I heard the Supervisor talking on the phone about it. After reviewing the tapes; the Supervisor also called the Local position to make sure the Tower was watching him; the same time I was taking the briefing. The Tower called to change to North Flow. In hindsight; perhaps I should have called the Tower again to reiterate the point out but at this time I considered it known traffic to them. A couple aircraft had arrived and then departed after the runway change with Aircraft X in the area but resulted in no conflict which reinforced to me that Tower was aware of what was going on. A strip for Aircraft Y came down the drop tube without any restrictions while Aircraft X was turning back on the arc opposite direction. I called the Tower to make sure they were watching Aircraft X and they stated they had NOT taken a point-out. The trainee tried to approve the point out reference to the departing traffic but at this point it was too late as Aircraft X was in conflict with a runway heading departure. I advised Local to 'Miss him.' The Tower called back and told me Aircraft Y would be on a 270 heading. I considered the 270 heading coordination to be a reasonable solution but later learned they turned Aircraft Y to a 050 heading directly towards Aircraft X. It would have been better to keep Aircraft Y on the ground obviously. I advised Aircraft X of the traffic departing DSM on what I thought would be a 270 heading. Aircraft Y reported responding to an RA (Resolution Advisory).I have a few suggestions to help avoid such situations again. Train on fewer positions during special events such as Flight Checks or VIP movements. Yes; training is important but the risk multiplies with every trainee on position. Let one person train while the others work or watch and gain a knowledge base. I don't think this would have happened with 3 fully certified controllers on position. We need to have an all hands meeting or Recurrent Training about these and other operations. I thought everyone here was on the same page about what happens during Flight Check Operations but apparently that is not the case. We should have a group briefing instead of individual verbal briefings prior to any special event. We need to have a culture of helping each other out. If Tower believes they didn't get a point out on the Flight Check aircraft; they should have said something during the twenty minutes the aircraft was operating in their airspace prior to this conflict.
[Report narrative contained no additional information.]
DSM Tower and TRACON controllers reported confusing communication of a Flight Check aircraft after a runway change resulted in a confliction with a departing aircraft.