Air Traffic control failures

[Alistair_Heaton]

Seems to be a common issue in Europe and USA.

Old hardware and software and lacking personnel.

It's becoming a factor in most aviation threads in this forum.

New audio reveals moment Newark air traffic radar goes dark

The incident traumatised air controllers, and triggered delays at one of New York's busiest airports.

www.bbc.com

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

https://cybernews.com/news/duffy-faa-air-traffic-control-overhaul-newark-us-transportation-secretary/

Seems something is going to be announced tomorrow.

I suspect they will go for a bespoke system which will cost a fortune to develop. There are 4-5 systems out thier already a couple of which were developed in the USA.

 

[LionelHutz]

It wouldn't surprise me if Trump via Musk will try to push some kind of combined xAI and Tesla technology thing into an automated ATC system,

 

[RVAmeche]

Gotta line pockets and steal govt funds in every way possible. Versus just ya know, hiring an adequate amount of people and providing training.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Air traffic management surveillance tracker and server (ARTAS)

Ensuring an optimal use of available sensor data in an interoperable manner.

www.eurocontrol.int

I know absolutely nothing about this part of aviation.

 

[btrueblood]

I've had coffee chats with people who looked at bidding on replacement LORAN systems (I may not be using the correct acronym, but the function was the same, i.e. radio navigation systems for planes), the contract would be linking existing systems into a newer, upgraded, remote-monitoring, networked system for the FAA. They ran into some issues along the lines of: nobody knew what the existing equipment was, who built it, nor where any documentation might be stored, and the equipment they did look at varied between each and every station they visited. Their company no-bid the contract.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/08/us/faa-equipment-issues-safety-concerns

Appeared in my news feed this morning.

 

[btrueblood]

I'm glad my wife and I are on hiatus from air travel right now. Maybe we'll take more boat rides and driving trips in the near future.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Newark airport had three air traffic controllers on duty instead of 14

On Monday evening the airport had far fewer than the 14 controllers agreed on between the union and regulators

www.theguardian.com

Would like to see the reason why they were missing.

 

[LittleInch]

Maybe you missed this but in the report?

"After the first Newark failure, on 28 April, the union representing air traffic controllers said several members were placed on trauma leave."

 

[waross]

Maybe it is time to add "Air Traffic Controllers" to the minimum required equipment list for airports.
We regret to inform you that the Newark Airport has been temporarily closed due to inability to meet minimum requirements.
I once had to take a four hour boat ride due to my destination airport being closed due to the fire fighting equipment being below the minimum required list.

 

[TugboatEng]

If you look up the NATCA union for the region you will see that in 2023 a push for consolidation with Philadelphia airports began which the union opposed. I'm generally opposed to consolidations because I believe they do usually lead to a reduction in services.

 

[Alistair_Heaton]

Maybe it is time to add "Air Traffic Controllers" to the minimum required equipment list for airports.
We regret to inform you that the Newark Airport has been temporarily closed due to inability to meet minimum requirements.
I once had to take a four hour boat ride due to my destination airport being closed due to the fire fighting equipment being below the minimum required list.

It's definitely the case under easa for both at and fire cover.

There are NOTAMs giving break times if they are short of controllers without break cover. And if you arrive without enough fuel to hold you have to divert