Flights disrupted after computer failure at UK control centre

[AdamG]

Passengers are facing widespread flight disruption after a computer failure at the UK's air traffic control centre.

Nats said it was in the process of returning to normal operations after a "technical problem" at its Swanwick control centre caused delays and grounded some flights.

Problems were reported around the UK.

The government said the scale of the disruption was "unacceptable" and said it had asked for a "full explanation" of what had gone wrong.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30454240

[davidbfpo]

AdamG,

Half of UK air traffic control has a problem:
The National Airspace System that performs flight data processing was originally written for American airspace in the late 1960s.

“It wasn’t designed to cope with the volume of air traffic we have today, or to interface with modern computer software.”


Prof Thomas said the NAS system was written using a now defunct computer language called Jovial, meaning Nats has to train programmers in Jovial just to maintain the antiquated software.


Link:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291495/UK-flights-chaos-Air-traffic-control-computers-using-software-from-the-1960s.html
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291495/UK-flights-chaos-Air-traffic-control-computers-using-software-from-the-1960s.html)


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291891/Air-traffic-failure-never-seen-before.html?

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291495/UK-flights-chaos-Air-traffic-control-computers-using-software-from-the-1960s.html)







(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291495/UK-flights-chaos-Air-traffic-control-computers-using-software-from-the-1960s.html)



(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/aviation/11291495/UK-flights-chaos-Air-traffic-control-computers-using-software-from-the-1960s.html)

[AdamG]

Just because it's a creaky, outdated system doesn't mean that some goblin isn't inside it, 'mucking things up' as you folk are wont to say.