Date: 201603
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZAU.ARTCC, IL
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Climb
Airspace: Class A ZAU
ATC / advisory: Center ZAU
Reporter organization: Government
Reporter function: Instructor; Enroute
Reporter qualification: Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Human factors: Workload; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Second reporter function: Enroute; Instructor
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Air Traffic Control
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Issued New Clearance; Flight Crew Exited Penetrated Airspace
Contributing factors: Airspace Structure; Human Factors; Procedure
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: My trainee and I were scheduled to relieve another Controller and trainee at the sector D-side. My trainee and I returned from a break and noticed that the previous Controller that we were to relieve was working another radar position. The sector had no Radar Assist at the time and the sector was very busy and very complex. My trainee and I jumped in with no briefing; as the Radar-Side trainer and trainee were too busy to give a briefing. The military airspace appeared on our radar scope. Aircraft X was in the airspace at the time climbing out of 18;000 feet for 20;000 feet. We coordinated a climb to 28;000 feet to get out of the airspace which was capped at 26;000 feet.We did then notice two messages which stated the times the airspace would be in use. There was no evidence of any previous messages stating the airspace would be going active. Neither ourselves nor the Radar trainer or trainee had any other prior notification that the airspace was going active. It was apparently listed on the big board; but we did not notice it due to the volume and complexity of the traffic.There are several possible solutions to the notification of airspace going active that I could recommend:Having the airspace appear on the radar scope 15 minutes prior to it actually going active. This could be displayed in either yellow or broken coral lines.Having printed strips distributed to each sector as was previously the practice.Having mandatory reminders from the Supervisor 1 hour; 30 minutes; and 5 minutes prior to the airspace going active.There are currently sheets printed which lists all of the airspace that is going active over a long period of time. These sheets are rarely seen; and are very difficult to read as the organization is confusing and the printing is very small.


Second narrative: I was training a trainee on the Radar position and we had a Radar Assist trainee as well. We were extremely busy and all 4 people on the position were unaware that the military airspace was going active. Aircraft X departed requesting 20;000 feet. The trainee climbed him to 20;000 feet and the aircraft leveled. The MOA's airspace went active and Aircraft X was in the middle of it. I took over the frequency and asked Aircraft X if he could climb to 28;000 feet. He accepted and the Radar Assist coordinated the point out. I climbed Aircraft X to 28;000 feet to exit the airspace. The 1 hour warning message that comes out regarding the airspace is absolutely not enough. We were extremely busy and lost track of time. The supervisor should at least give us a 15 minute warning. We have been asking for a 15 minute pop up warning on the radar scope. We continue to get ignored over this matter and we continue to have airspace violations.


Synopsis: ATC reported allowing an aircraft to be routed through Military Special Use Airspace at the time it went active.