NEWS
FAA Computer Glitch Affects Hundreds Of Flights
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Some 819 airline flights were delayed and an unknown number canceled Thursday after a Federal Aviation Administration telecommunications router glitch, though the agency said some of the delays were weather-related.
It released the number Friday in response to questions from CNN.
The problem surfaced about 5 a.m. Eastern Time Thursday -- shortly before the morning rush period -- when a router malfunctioned in a federal facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, the agency said. A back-up system also failed, disrupting a number of air traffic management services, including flight plan processing.
The breakdown did not include critical radar systems or radio communications with aircraft, the agency said.
The problem was resolved about 9 a.m. Eastern Time, it said, but delays continued throughout the day because of the ripple effect of cancellations.
Agency spokeswoman Laura Brown said an unknown number of the 819 flights were delayed by bad weather on the East Coast. She declined to release numbers of cancellations, saying not all airlines provide that information to the agency.
A union representing Federal Aviation Administration workers, meanwhile, criticized the agency for contracting out certain telecommunications functions, saying the problem could have been fixed quicker if employees had been responsible for maintenance.
"If the FAA owned and maintained this system, the problem could have been corrected within minutes," said Tom Brantley, president of Professional Aviation Safety Specialists.
He said employees of Harris Corp., which owns the system, attempted to troubleshoot the problem remotely before dispatching a technician to the Salt Lake City center.
Brown, noting an investigation into the incident is under way, said technicians needed to identify the location of the problem before they could send people to fix it.
In a statement released Thursday, Harris Corp. called the telecommunications system reliable and secure and said it is working with the FAA to evaluate the interruption to prevent similar problems in the future.
The-CNN-Wire/Atlanta
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