Wed, Mar 08, 2006
Computer Failures Result In Delays
In the past three days, the FAA's primary radar services have
failed in both Chicago and New York.
On Tuesday, the main computer system at New York Center in
Ronkonkoma on Long Island failed. The failure, which occurred at
about 2:15 Tuesday afternoon, meant controllers had to resort to an
older backup system, which still allowed controllers get a skin
paint of the aircraft in their area.
The older system didn't provide corresponding transponder
information to identify those aircraft, however -- meaning
controllers had to resort to calling their counterparts at other
TRACONS to get information such as airlines and flight numbers for
the aircraft showing on their screen.
To compensate for the increased workload, planes were spaced
with 15 miles separation between them, instead of the usual five...
and THAT led to flight delays as far away as Chicago, lasting for
hours even after the system was back up and running at around 3:15
pm.
Speaking of Chicago... the failure in New York comes one day
after telephone workers in Illinois cut the line between the
Chicago TRACON and the control tower at O'Hare -- meaning regional
and tower controllers weren't able to hand flights off between each
other as readily as usual. Again, a backup system was employed
after the failure Monday... but that meant more delays, some up to
two hours, on the ground at airports across the country. The
problem was eventually resolved about five hours later.
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