Radio outage at LA air traffic control delays flights

Airline Industry Information, Sept 15, 2004

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2004 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

Air traffic on the west coast of the USA was disrupted on 14 September 2004 after a communications failure at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) control centre.

Flights were held on the ground for up to three hours after a radio outage at the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center. Aircraft in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Diego and Orange County were affected by the outage which left air traffic controllers unable to communicate with aircraft.

A spokesperson for the FAA said that at no time were there any safety issues and that control of the airspace was turned over to other control centres. The fault has now been fixed and all airports have returned to normal operations, reports The Associated Press.

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