Associated Press

Last updated 06:32 PM, EST, Tuesday, October 31, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center, which handles high-altitude air traffic for portions of Indiana and six other states, experienced a power failure Tuesday that temporarily affected radar and radio communications.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the power loss happened at 4:04 EST. Elizabeth Isham Cory, a Chicago-based FAA spokeswoman, said nothing was ever completely out.

Controllers in Indianapolis used back-up communications systems and manual procedures until neighboring traffic control centers were able to assist.

Isham explained that there are a total of 21 centers like the one in Indianapolis nationwide, including a national command center in Hernden, Va. The centers are in charge of high-altitude and long-distance flights.

The Indianapolis center controls traffic in portions of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.

Isham said the FAA is investigating the cause of the power failure. She was not certain when the center would be back to normal operation.

"We're in the process of getting back up," Isham said. "But as for controlling traffic, that should be seamless."

http://www.starnews.com/data/wire/out/1031ap_k9ukas4109.html

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), October 31, 2000

Answers

FAA center struck by recent power outage switches to backup generators

Associated Press Last updated 06:57 AM, EST, Tuesday, November 07, 2000

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- An air traffic control center here has switched to backup generators in the wake of a power outage that resulted in at least two close encounters between aircraft.

Diesel generators will be used until technicians determine and correct whatever caused the Oct. 31 power outage at the Federal Aviation Administration center, said FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro.

"We've isolated ourselves from the commercial power linkup until we determine if that is where the problems are," he said Monday.

Controllers at the center remain on alert status as a precaution, said Ed Locke, president of the local office of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The center, located at Indianapolis International Airport, handles air traffic for parts of Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia. The center, one of 20 in the nation, handled 2.64 million aircraft last year.

It is equipped with six diesel generators for emergency use. Only three are needed to power radar, communications and other operations, leaving three for backup use.

On Oct. 31, after the center lost power, electricity was restored two minutes later when the generators fired up. However, the center's main radar couldn't be brought on line for two hours.

While backup flight and communications systems kicked in, that flight information isn't precise and more than 70 controllers scrambled to hand off aircraft to other route centers.

The pilots of two planes -- a private jet flying over Ohio and a USAir passenger plane flying over southern Indiana -- reported close calls with other planes.

Dozens of other flights were delayed because of the power failure.

Molinaro said the FAA won't know if the problem is unique to Indianapolis until it determines the cause, something that could take up to two weeks. http://www.starnews.com/data/wire/out/1107ap_ka67k29109.html

-- Doris (reaper@pacifier.com), November 07, 2000.