Regarding the occurrence on Tuesday (November 29) involving the Flight Data Processor (FDP), which is one of the sub-systems of the new Air Traffic Management System (ATMS), the system's contractor, Raytheon, earlier today (December 1) has complied with a request made by the Civil Aviation Department (CAD) to submit an investigation report within 48 hours and proposed the necessary fix.

     On the cause of the issue, the report is consistent with the preliminary analysis made by the contractor's on-site engineer on that day. The issue was primarily caused by the number one Flight Data Processor (FDP#1) of the Main system which encountered a file access anomaly when it tried to access certain archived playback data. The system then activated an auto-protection mechanism as per design and initiated an auto-switchover to the Main system's number two FDP (FDP#2) while putting the FDP#1 offline temporarily. During the auto-switchover, all the radar and flight information was displayed at radar screens in a continuous and seamless manner. After confirming the normal operation of the FDP#1, the technical staff restarted the FDP#1 promptly in accordance with the established procedures to make it serve as the standby FDP.  During this process, the two data processors started to synchronise flight information. The data synchronisation process took priority and the flight plan association process was expected to take place shortly afterwards, resulting in the momentary flight plan dis-association.

     There had been no loss or corruption of flight plan data during the occurrence. All other functions of the ATMS were functioning normally. Neither air traffic management, nor aviation safety were affected. The Fallback system and the Ultimate Fallback System of the new ATMS were operating normally and available for selection at all times.

     In preventing recurrence, Raytheon has proposed the necessary fix in the report, through optimising operating procedures and system software.

     To prevent the switchover to the FDP#2 of the Main system when conducting playback sessions, as an expedient measure, playback sessions will be conducted on the Fallback system to avoid impacting the Main system operation. In the long run, unnecessary auto-switchover of the FDP can be avoided through optimising system software to strengthen monitoring and management of playback sessions, especially handling the situation when the FDP encountered a file access anomaly.

     To prevent flight plan dis-association, in the short run, if a switchover is needed from the FDP#1 to the FDP#2 in case of problem, the restoration of the FDP#1 and the synchronisation process should not be carried out during a period of high traffic. In the long run, there will be system optimisation. When the FDPs carry out data synchronisation, the established associations between targets and flight plans would be protected to ensure that flight plan association will not be affected.

     For details of the report, please refer to Annex I.

     Furthermore, in view of the teething issues since the new ATMS' commissioning, the CAD previously announced that it would set up an expert panel to offer objective advice to the CAD.

     The CAD today announced the membership of the expert panel. The Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Mr Simon Li, is the Chairman. Other members comprise of local representatives, including Ir Warren Chim, Mr Albert Lam, Dean Mr Man Hau-chung; and overseas representatives, including President of National School of Civil Aviation in France, Mr Marc Houalla; and Chairman of International Civil Aviation Organization Regional Air Traffic Management Sub-Group, Mr Kuah Kong Beng. The expert panel will meet from time to time in the coming year to receive updates on the latest operations of the new ATMS and to provide objective professional advice to the DGCA. The expert panel will also gauge views of other stakeholders when necessary. The expert panel will convene its first meeting in December. For brief profiles of the expert panel members and terms of reference of the expert panel, please refer to Annex II. The members are appointed for a one-year term.

Ends/Thursday, December 1, 2016
Issued at HKT 23:52

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