Gibraltar radar inactive
 

Several flights have been cancelled at Gibraltar due to 'Adverse weather' but press reports have also claimed that the radar is inoperative due to damaged cables after a recent rockslide. Can anyone comment on this ?

f0174/18 - primary and secondary radar u/s. 29 apr 16:51 2018 until 21 may 23:59 2018. Created:
29 apr 16:52 2018

22/4/18 specifically.

May be Nav Aid. Radar is just the word that has been used in on-line press article. From on-line news article :-

But a person on board one of the diverted easyJet flights said the pilot told passengers that air traffic controllers had advised against the landing because the radar was “not working” and low cloud cover would make the approach very difficult.

Some passengers waiting in the airport terminal also reported being told that the reason for the flights being cancelled was a problem with the radar.

The Chronicle understands that while the radar is operational, there are issues stemming from damage to a cable following the North Face rock fall on March 2.

The cable connects radar equipment to air traffic control and this may have been a factor in the decision to divert the flights on Sunday, given the poor visibility conditions and the need to ensure passenger safety.

So what type of approach do you use in Gibraltar?

The fact that the reported delays were a week before the NOTAM was issued is neither here nor there. Almost certainly a case of someone, a week after the radars had gone offline, thinking "oh, maybe we should issue a NOTAM".
RNAV approaches are available at Gibraltar but they have minima of 1131 and 1194 for Cat C aircraft compared to 920ft for the SRA to both runways, so non-availability of radar is bound to cause some cancellations.

The main radar at Gib (was a Watchman last time I was there but that was years ago) is situated on the northernmost peak of the Rock about 1,000ft above airfield elevation and as such has an 'underhead'. I dare say the fibre optic cables could be damaged by rockslides but you would expect them to be protected against that.
There was also a PAR for westerly approaches near the tower and an ACR430 on a small 'mole' off the edge of the runway for easterly approaches (SRAs).