Two planner positions in Air Traffic Control Centre could not adjust operation configuration temporarily
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"At about 8.30am today, the operation configuration of some of the workstations in the ATC Centre has to be changed in order to cope with the air traffic movements. Two planner positions could not make the change accordingly as the command received did not fully match with the operating configuration. During the process, the radar screens at the workstations which have direct communications with flights have been showing all the flight data as usual and the ATC staff continued to handle traffic according to established procedures. The sequence of some 20 departure flights have to be rearranged to suit the the air traffic situation. After the ATC staff has reset the configuration of the operating procedures, the two planner positions concerned resumed normal at about 9.10am," a Civil Aviation Department (CAD) spokesman said.
"During the occurrence, the operation of the new Air Traffic Management System (ATMS)'s Main System has not been affected. The Fallback System and the Ultimate Fallback System were also operating normally and available for use at all times," he added.
According to the experience of the independent consultant of the Transport and Housing Bureau, National Air Traffic Services (NATS), given the complexity of the new ATMS, even with all reasonable efforts and endeavours, there could still be the possibility of having setbacks during introduction of a new system. The CAD has set up an independent expert panel to offer objective advice to the CAD on the teething issues identified since the new ATMS' commissioning. Members of the expert panel held the first meeting on December 16 and affirmed NATS' views. The expert panel will give advice to the Director-General of Civil Aviation on the teething issues of the new ATMS in the coming year.
Ends/Monday, December 26, 2016
Issued at HKT 21:19
Issued at HKT 21:19
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