Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1.0
Conflict Ground Conflict; Less Severe; Deviation - Altitude Overshoot; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance; Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT
Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance; Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Flight Crew Requested ATC Assistance / Clarification; Flight Crew Returned To Clearance
Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure; Chart Or Publication
I was working Approach East when an aircraft checked in descending out of 16;000 feet for 11;000 feet. I told him to expect the visual approach runway and to continue decent to 6;000 feet. He read back that he would expect the visual to 21 and descend and maintain 6;000. About 5 minutes later the low altitude alert went off and I noticed him descending through 4;000 feet. I immediately told him to climb to 4;500 and turned on the emergency map to make sure there were no obstructions in his path. With no obstructions in his path; he safely climbed.Keeping up your scan to make sure the pilots are following your instructions.
On initial contact; the aircraft was given a control instruction by the Approach Controller to descend and maintain 6;000 feet. He read back the instruction correctly. He was observed descending through 4;000 feet in a 4;500 foot Minimum Vectoring Area (MVA). He was immediately given a climb to the MVA of 4;500 feet. During this time I was working the Controller in Charge position as well as Radar Assistant. Both are non-control positions. I immediately pulled up the Emergency Obstruction Video Map to check for unsafe proximity to obstructions. He was not near any obstructions.
Two TRACON Controllers reported that an aircraft was assigned a descent to 6;000 feet; and read back the clearance correctly. The aircraft descended to 4;000 feet and below the minimum vectoring altitude for its area; before the controller noticed and climbed it back to 4;500 feet.