Flight Traffic Chaos

Uploaded on 2023-08-30 in FREE TO VIEW, BUSINESS-Services-Transport & Travel

A failure at the British National Air Traffic Services (NATS) data centre has resulted in a very large number of flight cancellations, both to and from the UK.

NATS reported a problem with the flight data system this weekend and according to the organisation's CEO, Martin Rolfe, “Initial investigations into the problem show it relates to some of the flight data we received. Our systems, both primary and the back-ups, responded by suspending automatic processing to ensure that no incorrect safety-related information could be presented to an air traffic controller or impact the rest of the air traffic system"

The NATS system failure has caused a nightmare in UK airports for thousands of passengers, with many left stuck abroad and in the UK. Some people slept on airport floors or in makeshift beds, while many scrambled to rebook flights. Passengers reported being left out of pocket after arranging alternative transport and accommodation following the cancellation of more than 1,500 flights on Monday 28th August. At London Gatwick, where about 150 flights were scrapped, budget airline easyJet cancelled virtually all departing international flights in the afternoon of Monday 28th August, afternoon. The delays and cancellations continued into Tuesday 29th despite the air trafficcontrol issue being fixed as the disruption had left planes and pilots out of place.

Analysis of flight data websites showed at least 281 flights, including departures and arrivals, were cancelled on Tuesday at the UK's six busiest airports. This consisted of 75 at Gatwick, 74 at Heathrow, 63 at Manchester, 28 at Stansted, 23 at Luton and 18 at Edinburgh.

The problem was due the back-up systems which suspended automatic processing of information to ensure air traffic controllers could not be placed at risk of receiving incorrect data.

NATS controls most aircraft in UK airspace and receives millions of flight plans every year. Airlines submit every flight path to the national control centre and these should automatically be shared with NATS controllers, but on Monday 28th, NATS received data that it could not process.

Rolfe said the system was designed to "fail safely" if this happened, to make sure erroneous information could not be passed on to air traffic controllers. This caused NATS to revert to a manual system, meaning fewer flights could be handled. For several hours they had to manually input flight routes, rather than it happen automatically, which was slower and caused a huge backlog. Rolfe apologised to those affected, insisting he was confident the situation would not arise in the same way again.

Initial reports suggested an inputting error from a French airline was to blame for the issue, but this has not been addressed in the NATS statement. It seems unlikely that a single date submission error could have caused such a widespread failure.

While NATS investigations continue, alongside prolonged delays to travelers returning to the UK in peak holiday season, there are no indications at this stage that the disruption was caused by a cyber attack.

NATS: IATA: ITV: BBC: Manchester Evening News: Mirror: Guardian: Travel Weekly:

Image: Guilherme Rossi

You Might Also Read:

Poor Cyber Resilience In Aviation:

___________________________________________________________________________________________

If you like this website and use the comprehensive 6,500-plus service supplier Directory, you can get unrestricted access, including the exclusive in-depth Directors Report series, by signing up for a Premium Subscription.