Date: 201506
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZTL.ARTCC, GA
Light: Night
Aircraft: Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer
Airspace: Class A ZTL
ATC / advisory: Center ZTL
Reporter organization: Government
Reporter function: Enroute; Handoff / Assist
Reporter qualification: Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Human factors: Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Workload; Distraction; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Troubleshooting
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Air Traffic Control
When detected: In-flight
Result: Air Traffic Control Separated Traffic
Contributing factors: Human Factors; Procedure
Primary problem: Procedure

Narrative: I worked the D-side at Blue Ridge and during that time I declined one break because it was too complicated for me to get out. The traffic volume and complexity was very high. This was due to reroutes of PHL; LGA; JFK; and EWR bound aircraft from the south of Atlanta over VXV. Apparently; ZDC shut off ZTL and my area; Area 7; got the all their traffic. Well; ZDC better have a good explanation for this or else they should be ashamed. I worked with 2 very capable and proficient R-sides who barely kept their heads out of water during this 2 + hour long fiasco. And during all this we were supposed to get 30 MIT (Miles in Trial) to one of the NY metro airports and 40 MIT to another. Many aircraft came over with speeds but I promise you we did not have time to adjust them. I was busier than a one-armed paper hanger and the R-sides were busier. This kind of volume with no (or very little) warning or help from TMU is unacceptable. I know this is what we do for a living but we should all thank our lucky stars that we had no weather in the area to deal with. And we were very fortunate that we had little or no southbound traffic from ZID sector SME. Also; the SME controller was very helpful and approved almost all our IAFDOF [Inappropriate Altitude for Direction of Flight] northbound. We changed as many flights as we could to be right for direction but due to traffic and workload we couldn't do all of them. Looking back on this event; at some point we might have asked to have some aircraft spun by Area 4. I don't know what might have helped. But I sure hope TMU enjoyed reading the newspaper or whatever they were doing while all this was going on because they darn sure didn't do 'anything' to help us out. This kind of event needs to be addressed sooner rather than later because it's only June and this will most likely happen again this summer.Frankly; I think ZDC and ZTL TMU need to explain how this happened. And they should be politely encouraged to get their heads out of their butts. We took and took the traffic and made it work but that doesn't mean it will end that well next time; especially with a younger crew on a different shift. Please pull the tapes and FALCONS [Radar replay system] and see what I'm describing for yourself. I understand the volume continued [for another two hours after I left]; but I don't know how heavy it was at the end of that period. I would like to note that our Area 7 Front Line Manager for this shift; did a great job keeping everything together.




Synopsis: ZTL Controller describes a period where there was too much traffic and the problems that were associated with a lack of coordination. ZDC shut off the ZTL and the sector this Controller was working at received all of their traffic. Reporter stated that TMU did nothing to help the sector out.