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Computer Error Grounds Flights In the UK

Posted by Soulskill on from the tripping-over-the-power-cord dept.

Rambo Tribble writes: Reuters reports that flights from Heathrow, Gatwick, and many other airports have been shut down "due to a computer failure." The information comes from European air traffic control body Eurocontrol. No official word as yet as to the nature of the failure. "One source told the BBC the problem was caused by a computer glitch that co-ordinates the flights coming into London and puts the flights in sequence as they come into land or take off. He described it as a 'flight planning tool problem.'" Incoming flights are still being accommodated.

3 of 68 comments (clear)

  1. Re:"Computer" failure? by Tx · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Register is reporting that it's actually a power failure, apparently according to a Heathrow Airport spokesperson.

    “There is a power outage at the NATS control centre in Swanwick, which is affecting UK airspace. Flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information," said a spokesman from Heathrow as the effects of the outage spread.

    You'd think that such systems would have fully redundant power supply infrastructure though, so maybe that's misinformation.

    --
    Oh no... it's the future.
  2. Re:"Computer" failure? by gstoddart · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Must be the OS?

    All of those are valid points.

    However, some of us are old enough to remember stuff like this:

    The Navy's Smart Ship technology may not be as smart as the service contends.

    Although PCs have reduced workloads for sailors aboard the Aegis missile cruiser USS
    Yorktown, software glitches resulted in system failures and crippled ship operations,
    according to Navy officials.

    Navy brass have called the Yorktown Smart Ship pilot a success in reducing manpower,
    maintenance and costs. The Navy began running shipboard applications under Microsoft
    Windows NT so that fewer sailors would be needed to control key ship functions.

    But the Navy last fall learned a difficult lesson about automation: The very
    information technology on which the ships depend also makes them vulnerable. The Yorktown
    last September suffered a systems failure when bad data was fed into its computers during
    maneuvers off the coast of Cape Charles, Va.

    Call it a well earned cynicism.

    --
    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
  3. Re:"Computer" failure? by Noah+Haders · · Score: 5, Funny

    sounds like we need a war on errorism.