FAA flight plan system error
“What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Those immortal words from Cool Hand Luke, released in 1967, just about summed up the FAA flight plan fiasco that delayed and canceled flights across the USA yesterday. Ironically, much of the equipment used by the FAA was developed about the same time the movie was made. This time the switching network that failed is “only” 14 years old.
Nextgov.com noted: The error occurred around 1 p.m. Eastern time, shutting down a central computer system in Atlanta, Ga. NADIN operates on a load-bearing system, so when the main facility went down, requests for flight plans shifted to a backup system in Salt Lake City, Utah. But that system was overwhelmed by the volume and began rejecting requests for flight plans, making it impossible for hundreds of planes to get off the ground.
The National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN), earlier in this decade, was amazingly stable. It has been the workhorse of FAA communications for more than ten years.
When it comes to reliable network connections, a record of 100% availability is hard to top. After 5 years with that level of achievement, ARINC Incorporated is now in its sixth year as provider of the Federal Aviation Administration’s vital Aeronautical Communications Service (ACS) ground data network, connecting the FAA to more than 200 airlines around the world.
NADIN just had a state-of-the-art hardware and software upgrade over the past 18 months. But the upgrades patched onto the antiquated (by computer standards) network have not been painless as yesterday’s problems attest. After half a decade of 100% reliability the technology upgrades and program administration changes have come at a cost in reliability.
* January 1994 — NADIN system reaches initial operational capability.
* December 1994 — NADIN system becomes fully operational.
* 2000 — NADIN system crashes.
* November 2003 — FAA officially formalizes NADIN protocol.
* March 2005 — Contract awarded for NextGen NADIN replacement. NADIN is processing 1.5 million messages daily at this point. The FAA begins replacing the old Phillips DS714 mainframes with new servers that use Intel processors.
* June 2007 — NADIN Atlanta crashes.
* August 2008 — NADIN Atlanta crashes.
The air traffic overhaul is daunting and affects far more than only civil aviation. With the certainty of cyber attacks in coming conflicts, the redundancy of these vital systems is more important. Even with the new servers and high tech network, this 8-year-old system is being held together on a patch-as-needed program while the FAA’s planned pie-in-the-sky NextGen Air Traffic Control system is delayed in Congress.
Whatever the system error, these highly technical networks cause havoc when the backup protocols fail. In this case the backup switching center in SLC managed to keep the flight plans moving, but with a delay. I’ll bet the software folk and computer types are planning a third communications switching hub already as another patch. The next time this kind of outage occurs, I hope the backup platforms perform better.
As for this morning (at 12:00 GMT), a look at the Flight Delay Information - Air Traffic Control System Command Center website shows all airports glowing green.
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Comments
4 Responses to “FAA flight plan system error”
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Yesterday’s FAA delay reminded me of an article a client did awhle back. How to stay productive while stuck at the airport. http://tinyurl.com/6c46zx
From 2006, but relevant, especially if comming ATC technology overhauls get a bit glitchy.
[...] “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Those immortal words from Cool Hand Luke, released in 1967, just about summed up the FAA flight plan fiasco that delayed and canceled flights across the USA …FAA flight plan system error [...]
What a f***ing joke.
Continous processing using WINDOWS!!!!!
LOL
Typical governmenmt pencil-necks, who can’t get a real job, play being grown-ups and try to make a grown-up decision.
[...] “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” Those immortal words from Cool Hand Luke, released in 1967, just about summed up the FAA flight plan fiasco that delayed and canceled flights across the USA …FAA flight plan system error [...]