Oct 19, 2000 - 02:27 PM

Airliners Grounded by FAA Radar Computer Failure in West By Jeff Wilson Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Air traffic controllers grounded hundreds of airliners headed into the Southwest on Thursday because of repeated failures of the radar computer guiding flights into the region. "We're in a national ground stop now. All aircraft coming into this area will be stopped on the ground," Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jerry Snyder said after the computer failed for a second time.

A backup system took over and there were no safety problems for aircraft in the air, Snyder said. The failure was the result of a computer software upgrade Wednesday night.

"When the systems were being brought back up on line, it failed. It's not accepting the software," Snyder said.

The backup system doesn't have the automatic feature that passes off planes from one regional controller to another, and requires a controller to manually type the flight information.

The first main computer outage lasted 100 minutes, from 6:50 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The computer went down again at 9 a.m. and was restored again at 10:30 a.m., but the hold on incoming flights was not immediately lifted.

The radar system at the FAA's Los Angeles Center, 60 miles north of downtown in the Mojave Desert community of Palmdale, covers most of California and parts of Nevada and Utah.

"This was a standard upgrade. It was new software. Something is corrupting the system," Snyder said.

Flights were backed up at Los Angeles International Airport but the exact number of aircraft delayed was unknown, said Gail Gadei, the Department of Airports spokeswoman.

San Francisco International Airport spokesman Ron Wilson said about 20 flights were grounded there because of the first outage. United Airlines canceled 32 flights into and out of San Francisco. "The domino effect will probably last all day," Wilson said.

At least 40 flights were grounded in Las Vegas during the first outage, said Hillary Gray, spokeswoman at McCarren International Airport. Departure delays continued for hours, she said.

Snyder said radar system failures "happen from time to time," noting an August outage in Oakland. Flights into and out of San Francisco International Airport and San Jose International Airport experienced delays of about an hour.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAE39URIEC.html

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), October 19, 2000

Answers

When I read something is corrupting the system--that's the exact quote--I can only think y2k.

-- Uncle Fred (dogboy45@bigfoot.com), October 19, 2000.

light Chaos After LA Airport Radar Equipment Failure October 19, 2000

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) via NewsEdge Corporation -

Hundreds of flights in and out of Los Angeles international airport were grounded, canceled or severely delayed on Thursday after a radar equipment outage at one of the nation's busiest air hubs.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman said computer software equipment processing radar information went down at about 6:50 a.m. PDT during an upgrade. It came back briefly but then went down again around 9 a.m. PDT. The computer coordinates high altitude traffic in, out and across the southern California region.

``There is a national ground stoppage of flights leaving southern California,'' the spokesman said. An automatic backup system came into force ensuring the safety of planes already in the air.

At Los Angeles airport, where domestic or international flights take off or land almost every minute, officials said all incoming and departing flights had been delayed to some extent. Arrival and display boards showed scores of cancellations.

``We do have intermittent arrivals and departures. It is not a total shutdown,'' spokeswoman Diana Sanchez said.

Sanchez could not say how many flights had been affected by the radar equipment failure.

``We are recommending that people call their airlines before they set off,'' she said.

FAA officials said the ground hold applied only to Los Angeles airport, although other airports in the region might also have experienced some delays.

http://www.individual.com/story.shtml?story=c1019155.202

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 19, 2000.

Canoe

Thursday, October 19, 2000

Computer failure gridlocks U.S. airports

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Across the country and around the world, hundreds of flights headed into or out of the Southwest United States were grounded Thursday because of repeated breakdowns in the region's air traffic control radar.

By the time the order from the Federal Aviation Administration was lifted more than four hours later, airports around the country were gridlocked with aircraft lined up on the ground, flights cancelled and thousands of passengers stranded or delayed.

"I've got a grandma dying in New Mexico and I can't get there," said Davis Hill of Boise, Idaho, as he waited for a connecting flight at Los Angeles International Airport.

The problem called into question again the safety of the country's air traffic control system.

The malfunction took place at the FAA's Los Angeles Center in the Mojave Desert community of Palmdale. The air traffic control centre covers much of California and parts of Nevada and Utah. The system broke down twice in the morning.

Jerry Snyder, an FAA spokesman, said a backup system took over and there were no safety problems for aircraft in the air.

However, the backup system doesn't have the automatic feature that passes off planes from one regional controller to another, and requires a controller to manually type in the flight information.

Hundreds of flights into and out of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, San Jose, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City were grounded.

Snyder said the failure was the result of a computer software upgrade Wednesday night. "It's not accepting the software," Snyder said.

The first main computer outage lasted more than an hour and a half, from 6:50 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. The computer went down again at 9 a.m. and was restored again at 11:15 a.m., but only after the new software was removed in favour of the old.

The FAA lifted the grounding order in stages to allow an orderly flow of traffic.

"Right now, it doesn't look like I'll get home until tomorrow," said Alan Verpy, who was waiting in Los Angeles for a flight to Minneapolis.

There were tense moments for FAA controllers. At one point, there was no more room on the ground at Los Angeles International Airport and flights from Australia, for instance, were sent to Las Vegas.

"It's been pretty crazy," said Garth Koleszar, local vice-president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. "Every flight in and out of our sector was affected."

Asked if there were any safety concerns, he said: "Any time you use a system that isn't the best that we have, I feel there is a degradation."

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), October 20, 2000.

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20  Tens of thousands of airline passengers waited hours for delayed or grounded flights headed into and out of the Southwest Thursday because of glitches in the radar system that guides aircraft through the region. For five hours ending at about noon, all flights in and out of Los Angeles International Airport were canceled, but a spokeswoman for the airport said operations had returned to normal by 7 p.m. October 19, 2000 NBCs Dan Lothian reports Thursday on air travelers woes.

AFTER THE radar system failed, a backup system took over immediately, and about 100 aircraft in flight at the time were not endangered, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jerry Snyder. But by the time the FAA restored the system more than four hours later, airports nationwide were gridlocked with aircraft lined up on the ground, canceled flights and passengers stranded or delayed. About 75,000 of those passengers were at Los Angeles International Airport, where weight-loss guru Richard Simmons entertained weary travelers with banter and dancing after his flight arrived about an hour late from Philadelphia. I could have been in Paris eating cold oysters by now, Simmons said. Los Angeles International averages 100 arrivals and departures hourly, spokeswoman Nancy Castles said. It was very disruptive and it had a domino effect, she said, adding most of the backlog had been absorbed by 7 p.m. SOFTWARE UPGRADE BLAMED The failures at the FAAs Los Angeles Center followed a software upgrade Wednesday night. The radar facility, 60 miles north of downtown in the Mojave Desert, covers a 100,000-square-mile section of the Southwest, including most of California, parts of Nevada and Utah, and 250 miles out to sea.

This was a standard upgrade. Something is corrupting the system, Snyder said. Its worked for 17 other systems but isnt working here. Air traffic controllers had many tense moments. At one point, there was no more room at Los Angeles International and flights from Australia were sent to Las Vegas. Every flight in and out of our sector was affected, said Garth Koleszar, local vice president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Asked if there were safety concerns, he said: Any time you use a system that isnt the best that we have, I feel there is a degradation. The backup system doesnt have the automatic feature that passes planes from one regional controller to another. It requires a controller to manually type flight information and relay the information by telephone. PROBLEM BEGAN EARLY The first computer outage lasted from 6:50 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., preventing Southern California-bound aircraft west of the Mississippi from taking off. Advertisement

The computer went down again at 9 a.m., grounding planes nationwide. The system was restored at 11:15 a.m. using the old software. Southwest Airlines canceled 70 flights, airline spokesman Melanie Jones said. A San Francisco International Airport spokesman, Ron Wilson, said about 20 flights were grounded during the first outage alone, and United Airlines canceled 32 flights into and out of San Francisco during the day. Forty flights were grounded at McCarren International Airport in Las Vegas during the first outage.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/478693.asp

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 20, 2000.

The Mexican connection in this article...

Oct 20, 2000 - 07:20 PM

New FAA Radar Software Couldn't Handle Mexico Flight Hand-Offs By Jeff Wilson Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Failure of the radar system that guides aircraft into or out of the Southwest was traced to new computer software that malfunctioned, the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday. Software installed Wednesday night at the FAA's Los Angeles Center in the Mojave Desert was unable to recognize data typed manually by Mexico controllers.

Tens of thousands of airline passengers waited hours for delayed or grounded flights Thursday because of the radar failures.

The software upgrade had been completed successfully at 19 other FAA radar centers, but software designers didn't allow for information typed in by controllers handing off flights from Mexico, which doesn't have a computerized system, FAA spokesman Jerry Snyder said.

"The computer didn't recognize the information when it was passed from Mexico and it aborted," Snyder said. "A digit out of place could do it."

The Los Angeles system failed Thursday morning when data from a Mexico controller was received. The system instantly switched to backup.

The new software was restarted about 1 1/2 hours minutes later, but it failed again. The system returned to operation more than two hours later.

Air travel schedules were left in disarray as the FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop for all flights bound for the Southwest, causing cancellations, rerouting, long delays and airport gridlock. There were no safety problems for about 100 aircraft already en route.

The national ground stop order was lifted incrementally throughout the day Thursday to meter the flow of aircraft.

"Everything's back to normal," Snyder said Friday.

The radar system at Los Angeles Center covers a 100,000-square mile section of the Southwest, including most of California, parts of Nevada and Utah, and out to sea 250 miles.

Technicians must now rewrite the software to recognize the Mexico controller information. It wasn't clear when a revised program would be installed.

"It won't be attempted until after the Thanksgiving holiday rush," Snyder said.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGASF7QHKEC.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 20, 2000.