Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Confusion; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Human Factors; Procedure
This morning; I relieved the late night operations Controller working the entire JFK area combined. He had a difficult night due to weather and high volume of traffic and was fatigued. The Integrated Display System (IDS) information is was not up to date showing inaccurate and expired information. I worked for about 45 minutes without a problem until a G5 checked on over CAMRN. He said he had the current weather and asked what approach he should expect. I told him the Tower was closed and the approach was up to him. He asked for the ILS approach to Runway 14. I glanced up at the IDS and relayed to the G5 that the Approach Lighting System (ALS) to Runway 14 was out of service and he could expect the ILS to Runway 14. I did not notice the more pertinent information after the ALS outage which was that Runway 14/32 was closed. I continued working all of the other arrivals and departures in and out of Kennedy and eventually cleared the G5 for ILS14. I advised him to cancel in the air on my frequency or on the ground on 128.25. I switched him to advisory frequency and continued working. Two minutes later the G5 calls up saying he was on the missed approach runway heading and advised me that the airport authority had sent him around due to vehicles on the runway; Runway 14 was NOTAMed closed. He asked for a GPS to Runway 19 approach which occurred without incident. The Supervisor was informed immediately and I continued working for about another 10 minutes. This was a perfect example of the Swiss Cheese breakdown of communication which leads to incidents. First; the briefing was incomplete and I was never told about the runway closure. Next; the pilot did not have the current NOTAMs for his arrival airport and requested an approach which takes him to a closed runway. The IDS information area was not up to date; showing old and inaccurate information. The most pertinent information about the runway closure was listed behind another NOTAM for the same runway with less importance. Finally; I was very busy working a combined position in IFR conditions which included all of the arrivals and departures at JFK and FRG airports. This situation slipped through multiple safety nets and was caught at the last level (airport operations). I would recommend that runway closures be listed as a high priority item on the IDS. It should not be listed after less important equipment outages. I would also recommend that pilots obtain all pertinent NOTAMs for arrival; departure and alternate airports. Information areas such as the IDS should be updated and kept current. Adding the color red to significant closures would be helpful.
N90 Controller described a go-around event at a non-towered airport when current information regarding a runway closure NOTAM was not recognized by the reporter and flight crew.