Swanwick's gone tits up!!!!
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Swanwick's gone tits up!!!!
Just had a call from crew friend sitting on the ground at heathrow wanting to know why they were going nowhere amid rumours of computer failure at Swanwick.... .. .And here is what the CFMU says:. .<a href="http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044713" target="_blank">http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044713</a>. .<a href="http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044720" target="_blank">http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044720</a>. .. .Apparently they had problems with the fones this morning again... don't know if its related.. .. .What a larf!
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Heres the latest from CFMU.... .. .<a href="http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044722" target="_blank">http://www.cfmu.eurocontrol.be/chmi_public/ciahome.jsp?serv1=aim&aim=00044722</a>. .. .seems they are having problems with ''associated equipment'' so maybe it was the fones? Anybody coming home from work on an early go can tell us whats been going on?
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On holiday so no idea why there's a problem. However it does say that LACC has gone manual, which leads me to suspect either a NAS link failure, or NAS failure which took a while to sort out. Effectively if NAS is down for more than 6 minutes then the ATC Watch Supervisor has to decide on whether to go manual or not. Going manual means that they can eventually move more traffic once its established, but initially there will have been a huge impact on flow.. .Recovering from a manual to an electronic operation means that traffic levels have to be massively reduced as LACC re-connects to NAS and has to update all the flight data. It is therefore better for all concerned to remain manual until the traffic reduces sufficiently to allow them to go electronic.. .I am only postulating a possible reason why they went manual but the rest of it is how it works.
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Even if you'd been in work niteflite, I'm not sure how the Sim would have had any effect on the crash....... .. . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> .
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And here is the news at 10 - BONG BONG BONG <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .. . CHAOS AT AIRPORTS AS NEW UK ATC SYSTEM FAILS !!. .. .I Knew today would be a good day to have a days leave !!!! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> !!!. .. .Good luck guys - Wonder what the official management drivel will be ???????? or have i just read it on CEEFAX ?
Ah-hah - that explains it. Came back from a North Sea AARA flight today needing to do a Strumble HMU run for an equipment check and the ATC chaps advised us that London Control's 'computers had crashed'. Nevertheless we managed to achieve what we needed with a very, very slight delay and the sound, unflappable ATC from LATCC was exemplary. Thanks a lot, chaps - and I hope that the ZX-80s recover soon!!
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This is the latest on the CFMU website:. .. .LONDON COMPUTER FAILURE UPDATE. .Valid from 27 Mar 2002 to 27 Mar 2002 (released 27 Mar 2002 at 21:32:22). .. .GROUND STOP FOR ALL DEPARTURES FROM THE UK. ... .NO FLIGHT IS TO GET AIRBOURNE FROM ANY UK AIRFIELD UNTIL FURTHER . .NOTICE BECAUSE WE ARE UNABLE TO MANAGE THE PLANNED LEVEL OFDEMAND . .WITHIN THE LONDON FIR.. ... .THE STOP WILL LAST FOR AT LEAST 1 HOUR.. ... .FMD BRUSSEL ON BEHALF OF LONDON FMP
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And guess what the response to the computer failure was.......... .Issue everyone with a knee jerk 2100 departure slot, regardless of where they were going, no consideration was given to the fact that anything north of Birmingham was unaffected by the failure of NATS management to ensure safe and proper procedures were in place.. .Bunch of t**sers.
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Ahhhh niteflite01 - has your cover just been blown? <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="biggrin.gif" /> . .. .Are you a collegue of mine in the TS? I wonder which one? . .. .Has the great unit-wide hunt for you just ended? . .. .Will Danny give you your money back for your lovely blue moniker?. .. .See you tomorrow!. .. .From your young scouse ATSA buddy in training <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />. . . . <small>[ 27 March 2002, 23:01: Message edited by: LimaPapaLima2A ]</small>
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story on ceefax says the problem was at ''west drayton'' not at swanwick... hmmm interesting, is NATS to embarassed to admit to the general public that the problem was at swanwick? . .. .Is nobody home from the afternoon watch yet to tell us what went on?
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Spoke to a college who had the pleasure of todays madness, its ok as management came into the ops room and purvayed the chaos, yet did nothing about the madness that was about to ensue on the north bank. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Mad]" src="mad.gif" />
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niknak, Many things north of Birmingham would have been affected, as long as they were requesting FL280+, and changing to FL200+ over Birmingham cruising south. . .. .Still believe it was the link that failed so technically was at West Drayton as that is where the computer rumbles, however, for non-ATC types, it affected LACC (or Swanwick, or Nerc) only.
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If it was a NAS link failure, then it could have been at West Drayton end, the Swanwick end or somewhere in between. The fact that only Swanwick was affected would suggest a problem at that end.
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</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica"> NO FLIGHT IS TO GET AIRBOURNE FROM ANY UK AIRFIELD UNTIL FURTHER . .NOTICE BECAUSE WE ARE UNABLE TO MANAGE THE PLANNED LEVEL OF DEMAND . .WITHIN THE LONDON FIR. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">Sounds like a normal day in London to me.... <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" /> . .. .Sorry Bex...did they make the Font even smaller? . .. .Dont you hate it when you say "it will never work, it will never work...." and no one listens and then, guess what - it doesnt.
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To put everyone out of their confusion; here are the facts re: yesterday's delays (I'll put my comments on the NATS forum).... .. .NAS - the flight processing system feeding all of UK airspace and beyond - at West Drayton had a set of six CNN aborts at approx 1620 yesterday. The OLDI links - and of course, the link to Swanwick - were thrown out by the problems.. .. .The system had to be restarted to restore stability and cure the FLOP, and was brought back online quickly - the operational engineers and FDP at LTCC did a great job. . .. .All of the OLDI links were brought back straight afterwards, with the exception of the SFS link to Swanwick...procedures dictate that that link can only be brought back at the request of the ATC Watch Manager at LACC.. .. .Swanwick obviously went manual straight away, but even a few minutes outage at that time of day causes massive delays and demands flow - again, ATC at both West Drayton and Swanwick handled the situation as best they could.. .. .The link to Swanwick stayed down for several hours. Pre O-date, the link would NOT have been the biggest factor and normal ops would have been resumed within half an hour.. .. .The aborts are still being investigated - rumours of rogue flight plans and Irish Gap problems are going around, but I couldn't possibly comment...i.e. I don't know!. .. .As this was the first time NAS has FLOPped since O date, the whole problem was a learning curve for all concerned - I'm sure there are lessons to be learned and if there is a next time, it'll be handled better and faster. Well done to all ATC involved around the country.. .. .Can anyone from Swanwick ATC comment on why the NASSFS link stayed down for so long?. . . . <small>[ 28 March 2002, 07:02: Message edited by: Flight Plan Fixer ]</small>