This report examines the outages involving computer and related equipment in certain air route traffic control centers (ARTCCs). The safety issues discussed in the report include the increasing frequency of outages involving the aging IBM 9020E computer equipment; other equipment outages involving power systems and communications equipment unrelated to the aging IBM computer systems; lack of controller proficiency with one of the backup computer systems; the increased likelihood that some ARTCC computer systems will be operated with compromised redundancy; and the adverse effect of the retirement of highly skilled airways facilities technicians on the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) ability to maintain and repair many air traffic control systems. Safety recommendations concerning these issues were made to the FAA.
National Transportation Safety Board Special Investigation Report: Air Traffic Control Equipment Outages
1996
48 pages
Report
No indication
English