A system failure is said to be responsible for the air traffic control chaos that were experienced by airports in London as well as South East England last Friday. In their explanation for this occurrence, the Nats Company, which is in charge of British air space, said the incident did not compromise safety. The company gave the explanation at their national centre in Swanwick, Hampshire.
A number of work stations with interconnected systems experienced problems that caused delays and even cancellation of a number of flights. A transition between two states had experienced technical failure leading to this occurrence. This led to the controllers experiencing difficulties in accessing data regarding the flight plans of individuals leading to the inconveniences.
Nats said they have always given priority to the safety of the public. They had immediately responded to the situation by taking measures that reduced traffic in and out of UK networks. They have a well-established communication networks with all aircrafts and this helped a lot in managing the situation. However, Patrick McLoughlin who is the transport secretary said that such a situation is not acceptable and asked Nats to give a proper explanation regarding the occurrence of the incident.
This incidence led to closure of runways at Heathrow and Gatwick. Over 70 flights had been cancelled on Friday night while others left on Saturday morning after the disruption. The British Airways had also cancelled 14 services from Heathrow on Saturday. Most of these flights were headed to Dublin, Zurich and Madrid. BA scheduled a flight to Istanbul at 6.20 am but, it was two hours late.
Nats was created in 2001. It is a public-private partnership. Its stakeholders include the British Airways, easy Jet, and the Universities Superannuation Scheme.