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CAA to conduct independent review of ATC meltdown
The UK Civil Aviation Authority will commission an independent review into the NATS technical meltdown over the bank holiday.
On 28 August the system failed, causing hundreds of flights to be delayed and cancelled.
NATS’ preliminary technical report has set out the root causes and actions taken to rectify it.
The report found the incident occurred due to an anomaly that forced the system to stop processing flight plans.
The system was closed down to ensure safe flight operations but that required manual operation to continue a severely limited service.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority will now independently review the issues and analyse how NATS responded.
If there is found to be any violation of NATS’ statutory and licensing obligations, the CAA will ‘take any appropriate steps.’
The review will set out lessons to be learned and further recommendations.
Rob Bishton, Joint-Interim Chief Executive at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, said: “Millions of passengers every year rely on air traffic control to work smoothly.”
“The initial report by NATS raises several important questions and as the regulator we want to make sure these are answered.”
The scale of the disruption caused long delays for some passengers, and in some cases, waiting several days awaiting flights home.
NATS preliminary technical report was also sent to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper and Aviation Minister, Baroness Vere.
“While passengers understood it was not an issue caused by airlines, they were frustrated by poor communication and lack of care they received,” said Rory Boland, Which? Travel Editor.
“The CAA also needs to investigate the airlines’ response.”
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