Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Confusion; Human-Machine Interface
ATC Issue All Types
General None Reported / Taken
ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings; Human Factors; Procedure
A320 taxied out with an associated Data Block on the ASDE-X. When I asked CD for a flight progress strip; I was told that the old flight plan had been removed from the system and a new flight plan had been filed. I checked the ASDE-X and the A320 was on the old beacon code and not the new code. Had CD not been aware of the situation I could have taxied the A320 out and the flight would have departed on the old code and clearance in this case; the filed route was the same. I have seen this before; when a proposed flight plan is removed from the NAS; the data is not removed from the ASDE-X. I believe this is a serious flaw. Last summer I was working LC when a flight departed on an old clearance (different route) and did not discover the problem until the flight was airborne and had to ask the Departure Controller to fix the problem. When a proposed FP is removed from the NAS; the data should be removed from the ASDE-X. I can see no reason that this is not the case.
DEN Controller voiced concern regarding the ASDE-X equipment noting that beacon changes are not updated to reflect the correct aircraft/flight; adding that changes in the NAS equipment should be reflected in the ASDE-X logic.