DUB ATC Outage down to IT Cock Up
So it turns out all the problems at EIDW are down to an IT cockup at Thales - the faulty component was no more than a circa £50 network card!
The following from a popular IT news website:-
An air traffic control fault that brought Dublin airport to its knees last week has been traced to an intermittently flakey network card.
Thales ATM, the makers of Dublin’s ATC system, conducted a review of the system, and after crawling around the airport with their little torches, “confirmed the root cause of the hardware system malfunction as an intermittent malfunctioning network card which consequently overcame the built-in system redundancy”. The flakey card had been responsible for previous problems since June 2.
So, problem solved? Er, sadly not. The IAA has slapped in further monitor tools, and plans “an enhancement” to the failure recover system. But whatever happens, the system will need to be revalidated, which could take weeks. In the meantime, it will “slowly add capacity“, but for safety reasons “will not operate the system to its limit until the system has been re-validated”.
Which is just what Irish travellers will want to hear as the country builds up to its August bank holiday travel season.
Just to completely cover its backside, it added: "Factors outside the direct control of the Irish Aviation Authority, however, such as weather or congestion in European airspace, may also contribute to flight delays."
So, be warned, your stag party may still be thrown off schedule if Dublin is caught unawares by a deluge of rain, a surprise papal visit or Father Fay seeing his reflection in the cockpit window.
Hey ho! At least the flippin' thing doesnt rely on Windows...