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| London airspace severely restricted after control centre computer failure | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| London airspace has been severely restricted after a system failure at the main national control centre in Swanwick. | London airspace has been severely restricted after a system failure at the main national control centre in Swanwick. |
| Planes started to depart again after 4.15pm on Friday after more than an hour of airspace restriction, but passengers travelling to and from London’s largest airports faced lengthy delays and cancellations. Heathrow has cancelled 50 flights and expects the number to rise. | Planes started to depart again after 4.15pm on Friday after more than an hour of airspace restriction, but passengers travelling to and from London’s largest airports faced lengthy delays and cancellations. Heathrow has cancelled 50 flights and expects the number to rise. |
| Air traffic controller Nats said it was still investigating the cause of the failure but had now resolved the problem and that flight operations were being restored to normal. | Air traffic controller Nats said it was still investigating the cause of the failure but had now resolved the problem and that flight operations were being restored to normal. |
| However, the restriction, which appears to have been triggered by a computer problem rather than a power outage, as had earlier been thought possible, is likely to divert and disrupt hundreds of international flights after hours of delays, with aviation experts warning that the knock-on effects would be felt far beyond London. | However, the restriction, which appears to have been triggered by a computer problem rather than a power outage, as had earlier been thought possible, is likely to divert and disrupt hundreds of international flights after hours of delays, with aviation experts warning that the knock-on effects would be felt far beyond London. |
| A spokeswoman for Nats confirmed there was a technical failure at Swanwick, Hampshire, the leading control centre for southern UK airspace. | A spokeswoman for Nats confirmed there was a technical failure at Swanwick, Hampshire, the leading control centre for southern UK airspace. |
| She said earlier: “We are in the process of getting the incident response mobilised. We don’t know what the cause is, but there is a technical failure. | She said earlier: “We are in the process of getting the incident response mobilised. We don’t know what the cause is, but there is a technical failure. |
| “We’re sorry if it causes any delays today. Our priority is to understand what has gone wrong and to get things working as quickly as possible.” | “We’re sorry if it causes any delays today. Our priority is to understand what has gone wrong and to get things working as quickly as possible.” |
| Brussels-based Eurocontrol had earlier alerted airlines that traffic would not move until 7pm this evening. A message on the site said: “There has been a failure of the flight data computer server at London Area Control Centre (LACC). Engineers are working on the problem and more information will be given when available. No traffic has been accepted until 1900.” | Brussels-based Eurocontrol had earlier alerted airlines that traffic would not move until 7pm this evening. A message on the site said: “There has been a failure of the flight data computer server at London Area Control Centre (LACC). Engineers are working on the problem and more information will be given when available. No traffic has been accepted until 1900.” |
| Departures at London airports were at a standstill by mid-afternoon. A statement from Heathrow airport said: “There is a technical problem at the Nats control centre in Swanwick, which is affecting UK airspace. Flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information.” | Departures at London airports were at a standstill by mid-afternoon. A statement from Heathrow airport said: “There is a technical problem at the Nats control centre in Swanwick, which is affecting UK airspace. Flights are currently experiencing delays and we will update passengers as soon as we have more information.” |
| Gatwick said some incoming flights were still landing and that there had been limited departures on certain routes. | Gatwick said some incoming flights were still landing and that there had been limited departures on certain routes. |
| Aircraft were being kept on the asphalt at Luton and Stansted. Manchester has said it was not affected, but other regional airports said departures were potentially disrupted. | Aircraft were being kept on the asphalt at Luton and Stansted. Manchester has said it was not affected, but other regional airports said departures were potentially disrupted. |
| A similar computer glitch affected operations at Swanwick for almost 12 hours last December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded as hundreds of flights were grounded. Experts said that a failure in some of the new upgraded software may have introduced a glitch. | A similar computer glitch affected operations at Swanwick for almost 12 hours last December, leaving thousands of passengers stranded as hundreds of flights were grounded. Experts said that a failure in some of the new upgraded software may have introduced a glitch. |
| Doug Maclean, a consultant at DKM aviation, said: “The way the airspace is sectorised is designed to cope with this, so that if you have a glitch in one operations room, the whole of the UK is not affected. It sounds very much that it was the upper airspace sector which was affected, which means the contingency is that the London terminal area which handles the lower airspace would have taken over some of the flights.” | Doug Maclean, a consultant at DKM aviation, said: “The way the airspace is sectorised is designed to cope with this, so that if you have a glitch in one operations room, the whole of the UK is not affected. It sounds very much that it was the upper airspace sector which was affected, which means the contingency is that the London terminal area which handles the lower airspace would have taken over some of the flights.” |
| He said flights could normally still continue to a limited extent. “Because of the sheer volume of traffic, the first way that we deal with it is flow control. They simply stop all of the traffic heading for airspace. If a plane’s on the ground it’s not a risk. But at its most basic, controllers can still talk to the airplanes because they’ve got radio systems.” | He said flights could normally still continue to a limited extent. “Because of the sheer volume of traffic, the first way that we deal with it is flow control. They simply stop all of the traffic heading for airspace. If a plane’s on the ground it’s not a risk. But at its most basic, controllers can still talk to the airplanes because they’ve got radio systems.” |
| Aviation expert David Learmount told the BBC: “Because they don’t take any risks at air traffic control, they like to empty the skies. But because they have landed some planes, it shows they still have some capability.” | Aviation expert David Learmount told the BBC: “Because they don’t take any risks at air traffic control, they like to empty the skies. But because they have landed some planes, it shows they still have some capability.” |