What is the FAA computer glitch that is causing flight delays on Thursday, November 19, 2009?
A nationwide FAA computer system malfunction is causing flight delays at O’Hare and Midway Airports Thursday. The program designed to automatically enter flight plans stopped working properly around 5:15 Thursday morning, forcing flight controllers to enter the information manually and leading to system-wide delays. The flight plan includes the destinations, routes, weight and baggage information regarding the planes that take off and land from airports in the nation. The air traffic control systems have not been affected. There were delays of about 30 minutes at Midway and 15 minutes at O’Hare as of 8:15 a.m., a spokeswoman for the city’s Aviation Department told the Chicago Tribune. The Daily Herald is reporting 45 minute delays at Midway. An FAA spokeswoman told CBS that she didn’t know how many flights are being affected or when the problem will be resolved. The city is expecting the delays to ripple throughout the morning and into the afternoon. Sources:
“An FAA computer glitch is causing flights to be delayed and canceled nationwide Thursday,” FOXNews.com reports. “‘We are having a problem processing flight plan information,’ the FAA’s Kathleen Bergen explained in a prepared statement. ‘We are investigating the cause of the problem. We are processing flight plans manually and expect some delays.'” “Some flights already had been canceled by early Thursday morning, an AirTran Airlines official told The Associated Press,” FOXNews.com reports. “The technical difficulties weren’t affecting air traffic control’s systems, according to Bergen.” FOXNews.com reports, “Controllers ‘have radio coverage and communications with planes,’ she said.” Full article here. Ben Mutzabaugh blogs for USA Today, “CNN reports the FAA computer system affected by the malfunction is centered in Atlanta. ‘The system — the
CBS News explains the NADIN “system is located in Atlanta and generates the flight plans for all flights on the East Coast.” The glitch is forcing air traffic controllers in the already-congested New York City to space out planes by about 20 miles, instead of the normal eight miles. CBS adds “the practical ramifications of this problem are that the entire air traffic control system on the East Coast is slowed to about 40-50% of what a normal day would look like. Controllers must input flight data for each takeoff and landing manually.” Sources: http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=620002575.
