Shanwick ATC 'down'
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Shanwick ATC 'down'
Beeb reporting that all trans-Atlantic flights have been grounded (!) because of failures of ATC at Shannon . . .
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For all the redundancy to aircraft engines and systems insisted upon by the authorities these days , I am puzzled by the lack thereof by such a critical element in the international air traffic infrastructure. Are we getting what " we" pay for ? Was this a " hardware " or a " liveware " problem ? Who is to blame ? This should be treated as critically as would any major air disaster as the consequences of a deterioration of safety , ( other than grounding all air traffic ...$$$ ) has repercussions the world over.
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Well, we've filed right over the top of oceanic. Ok, any extra 25 mins flying time, but no delay....
Filing over Matik then straight over Iceland.
Good luck !
Filing over Matik then straight over Iceland.
Good luck !
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Everything is fixed now. The computer had gone zero rated which meant it could not process any routings and everything had to be done manually.
It was 16 movements only, now 25, systems are stable and back to normal within the hour.
It was 16 movements only, now 25, systems are stable and back to normal within the hour.
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The BBC really need to change their headline and opening paragraph - given that nowhere in their article does anyone from BAA, NATS or BA say that their flights are grounded, and the only mention of problems is some minor delays... But then as we all know, they're not that brilliant at reporting aviation-related news
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GPS tracking of a/c over the atlantic
Whilst the technology exists to fit a/c with GPS tracking systems for over the ocean monitoring, the costs of a fit to each a/c is significant. For operators with large fleets we are talking hundreds of millions of pounds. There is no real payback to operators for installing this equipment especially on aging airframes. So its actually an economic argumnet not a technological argument. Here in NATS it would be great if we could decommission long range radar and use processed GPS systems to indiate the a/c position. It would be more accurate and we could get rid of the limitations of the radar systems and the anomalies that come with it such as ghosting of tracks and duplicate SSR codes.
Unfortunately the airlines have to pay at this is the wrong financial climate
Unfortunately the airlines have to pay at this is the wrong financial climate
For operators with large fleets we are talking hundreds of millions of pounds.
Just need evryone else to catch up and align the ARINC standards and we might be able to mitigate this sort of situation in future.
I find it interesting that the flow rate can drop to as little as 15/hr over the whole OTS. 6 tracks with 9 levels each is a lot of sky, that's one aircraft every four hours for each "tunnel": long gone into someone else's airspace. 
I'd have thought you could run it quite safely by making sure that there was at least 10mins between aircraft estimates for the boundary and the speed for the crossing was the same for everyone on that track & level. Now we've all got GPS/IRS, RVSM-capable TCAS equipped aircraft (with offset), it shouldn't be too much of a safety issue? After all, the situation described above is a good day over Africa and we still fly there...
What happened to the blokes arriving for a crossing from the rest of Europe and Asia?
I'd have thought you could run it quite safely by making sure that there was at least 10mins between aircraft estimates for the boundary and the speed for the crossing was the same for everyone on that track & level. Now we've all got GPS/IRS, RVSM-capable TCAS equipped aircraft (with offset), it shouldn't be too much of a safety issue? After all, the situation described above is a good day over Africa and we still fly there...
What happened to the blokes arriving for a crossing from the rest of Europe and Asia?
I find it interesting that the flow rate can drop to as little as 15/hr over the whole OTS. 6 tracks with 9 levels each is a lot of sky, that's one aircraft every four hours for each "tunnel": long gone into someone else's airspace.
What happened to the blokes arriving for a crossing from the rest of Europe and Asia?
You're not Paul Barron are you?
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I'd have thought you could run it quite safely by making sure that there was at least 10mins between aircraft estimates for the boundary and the speed for the crossing was the same for everyone on that track & level. Now we've all got GPS/IRS, RVSM-capable TCAS equipped aircraft (with offset), it shouldn't be too much of a safety issue?
If you are serious , you need to read some documents again , you have a lot to learn about safety management .