ATC snag forces temporary halt of outbound flights - RTHK
ATC snag forces temporary halt of outbound flights
2016-11-29 HKT 18:10
"Outbound flights from Hong Kong were suspended for 15 minutes on Tuesday afternoon after the new air traffic control system's flight data processor failed to display flight details for up to 26 seconds.
The Director-General of Civil Aviation, Simon Li, said initial investigation showed the programme may have failed temporarily as it was backing up information.
While Li stressed the incident did not affect aviation safety, he said the glitch would not to be taken lightly.
He said he has demanded that the system manufacturer submit a report within 48 hours, adding that an expert panel may be set up to look into the incident.
When asked if there was a need to bring the old system back online to ensure flight safety, Li said: "the system itself have many layers of standby and actually today, we haven't actually activate the standby system. So, its only within the main system, one of the sub-system, which has experienced some problem. We will not compromise any flight safety. If we see any risk to the system which will cause safety implications, we certainly will consider switching back to the existing system".
Last week, Li dismissed complaints about the system as "teething problems".
The HK$1.5 billion Autotrac III system went into operation this month, after a delay of four years.
The Hong Kong Airline Pilots Association had demanded that aviation officials take steps to assure its pilots that the system was reliable."
NATS have still not answered my question as to whether or not Autotrac III is deployed anywhere in the UK...