FAA flaw reveals deeper holes
Tip of the aviation iceberg
LAST WEEK'S COMPUTER glitch at a Federal Aviation Administration centre which caused widespread airline delays this week was just the tip of an iceberg for the problems that could happen, according to AP.
The US flight system is waiting for a modernising overhaul, but the FAA's technology sucks more than a limpet prostitute.
Most of the problem is that the FAA has just two computing systems, one in Atlanta and one in Salt Lake City, to deal with the whole of the US. There was no redundancy, or enough different computers and communication channels to handle the same workload in an emergency.
If the FAA was a power company and it ran its operations in the same way it would be fined hundreds of thousand dollars a day.
However it gets worse. Basil Barimo, vice president of operations and safety for the Air Transport Association of America, said that the FAA still relies on outdated technology, including a radar-based control system designed in the 1940s and '50s.
Barimo said that things would not get better until the FAA's next gen modernisation program, which will cost $15 billion and take nearly 20 years to complete, comes online.
The FAA claimed that a network upgrade at one of the sites should prevent the type of problem it had last week.
But a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers claims the agency has tried to focus on future technology to deflect its lack of diligence in maintaining its current systems.
In December the FAA told computer staff not to perform some periodic certification checks as required by government handbooks for technical equipment. The FAA claimed this would eliminate unnecessary certifications that historically had little or no effect on total system performance and safety.
In other words if it ain't broke... don’t fix it. However when you have an aging system, you should be testing everything often, the NATC said. µ
L'Inq
AP
Comments
Really?
"said that the FAA still relies on outdated technology, including a radar-based control system designed in the 1940s and '50s."Didn't I read that the americans were doing away with radar based control and were moving to GPS/transponder based systems? in that case the radar will always be old since they won't use it anymore.
Also didn't they actually invent doppler radar and install it at airports ro detect microbursts way way WAY after the 50's since the technology didn't exist then.
And while I'm at it, didn't the brits invent the word RADAR in '41? and started using it as a practical device well into the 40's. so I strongly doubt the yanks use radar equipment from the 40's/50's, from before the damn thing was operational and early years when it could not even make out much, sounds like a bit overstated for effect perhaps huh?
Saying nonsense doesn't help a situation like this at all, yes they use old stuff, sometimes from as far back as the late 60s, but why subtract 2 or 3 decades? Isn't it bad enough as it is?
FAA at its finest.
I don't understand all the stupid red tape some of these government officials use. There is some serious rectal-cranial inversion going on here in the usa (if that wasn't obvious by who we are trying to elect in both parties)I digress...
Replace your systems FAA, Do it before you become liable for preventable deaths.
Really? Really?
"said that the FAA still relies on outdated technology, including a radar-based control system designed in the 1940s and '50s."To above poster, W, this does not mean the entire system is from the 40's or 50's or that no updates of any kind have been done since those years. If only a small part of the system can be connected directly to 40's/50's then that statement can be held "technically" correct. In a way it's like saying that the Core 2 is based on 30 year old technology because it has clear connection to the original 8086. But suffice it to say the bulk of the system runs on pre-pac-man technology and it's not that great and I don't doubt parts of the system do date back to the 50's and maybe even the 40's and have just had bits and pieces of newer tech grafted on to make due for now, over and over again.
Don't believe the SPIN
The comment: "FAA still relies on outdated technology, including a radar-based control system designed in the 1940s and '50s." is like saying that mankind is relying on 8,000 year old technology when we use the wheel. That is ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!