ATC mess up

[Craig.]

well seems the UK atc goes on a summer break this time every year
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3772077.stm
its now being cleared up but could take the entire day to clear backlog.

[ozzy72]

I've just read this over on the Guardian website
Ooops

[Hagar]

well seems the UK atc goes on a summer break this time every year

Funny you should say that. The timing is immaculate & this always seems to happen during busy holiday periods.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1921119.stm

Wednesday, 10 April, 2002, 11:55 GMT 12:55 UK
Q&A: Air traffic glitch

Thousands of air passengers faced delays on Wednesday after a technical problem at the air traffic control centre in West Drayton, near London, meant that flights across the UK had to be temporarily halted.

This is what's known as a trend in my business & should be investigated forthwith to prevent it happening again. These problems seem to be a regular event since ATC was privatised. I don't recall it happening before then. I've always believed that some services are far too important to be entrusted to private companies.

[ozzy72]

I've always believed that some services are far too important to be entrusted to private companies

Agreed Doug, public transport for instance
I remember going to W.Drayton about 16 years ago as an Air Cadet visiting the military section, it was really fascinating, I'm not at all sure about this new computerised system though, it seems to have more bugs than the Natural History Museum!

[Hagar]

Apparently this latest fiasco happened while the computer system was being updated. It should be obvious to anyone that every effort should be made to ensure this is done without crashing the system. This applies just as much to small businesses as most companies rely totally on computers these days. One has to wonder at the competence of the software company responsible for the system maintenance & the software itself.

[eno]

I have a friend who works for NATS and had they upgraded Prestwick centre at the same time as developing the new system down in Swanick then this would never have happened ...... Airliners have to have redundancy built in ........ Why does this not apply to ATC? who are just as if not more important than the aircraft they serve.
Prestwick should be upgraded within the next 2 years but if Swanick was anything to go by then dont hold your breath. That was 4 years overdue and still had bugs when it opened.

cheers
eno

[Craig.]

What i find funny, is the problems being caused at bristol airport. 4 flights have been cancelled and theres a backlog of traffic. Well that would be fair enough if there were more than 4 flights on the ground at the time, and if more than 6 planes an hour departed or landed

[Hagar]

What i find funny, is the problems being caused at bristol airport. 4 flights have been cancelled and theres a backlog of traffic. Well that would be fair enough if there were more than 4 flights on the ground at the time, and if more than 6 planes an hour departed or landed

Imagine that magnified many times over somewhere like Heathrow or Gatwick. What I find difficult to believe is that any responsible company would attempt to update their computer system without making provisions for emergency backup. We all know how fickle computers can be. Even the smallest businesses in the country take these precautions. They wouldn't last long if they didn't. Unbelievable incompetence. IMHO

[Craig.]

That was my point, Heathrow Gatwick and even Manchester to an extent, i can understand they all have constant departures every 45 seconds, Bristol maybe has an arrival every 12 minutes and a departure every 7 mins clearing the 4 flights wouldnt have taken more than 5 mins when the system was up an running again

[chomp_rock]

Computers do their jobs better than humans can, when they work.

[Hagar]

Computers do their jobs better than humans can, when they work.

The most powerful computer is only as good as the humans that program the software, operate & maintain it. Being a machine it is always liable to break down without warning - hence it's only sensible to have an emergency backup in place at all times. Far too many people seem to forget that.

[BFMF]

hence my own personal motto...

"Always have a backup"