The UK Civil Aviation Authority has recently released an interim report into the air traffic control failure that occurred back on the 28th of August, 2023. The report was prepared by an Independent Review Panel chaired by Jeff Halliwell on the matter, in which it was stated that there was a “significant lack of pre-planning.”
The new report estimates that over 700,000 passengers were impacted by the disruptions caused when hundreds of airplanes remained grounded across UK airports. This included 300,000 people who were affected by flight cancellations, 95,000 by extremely long delays, all of which were over by at least three hours, and a further 300,000 affected by shorter delays. The International Air Transport Association estimated that around £100 million had to be paid out by airlines for plane ticket refunds/rebookings, hotel rooms, and refreshments.
National Air Traffic Services
The catastrophe occurred when the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) flight planning system was shut down due to a technical glitch in the system. NATS is the UK’s leading provider of air traffic control services. The company’s main purpose is to deliver and provide a safe air traffic control system within the UK.
Regarding the disaster, NATS has indicated that it has acted to address the number of findings that arose from its own internal investigations on the matter.
The Interim Report
The Independent Panel made notes on the report that there was a good amount of progress since the incident, especially with regard to the understanding of the situation itself and in identifying the causes of the failure.
However, the panel agreed that other factors require further investigations and evidence. This includes communications around the incident, the responses by the aviation system, and the incentive regime for investment.
The Civil Aviation Authority stated that it took 90 minutes for a staff engineer to reach the headquarters of NATS, an avoidable situation likely caused by the increase in working from home, something that surged post-pandemic. Furthermore, it took a further four hours before NATS contacted Frequentis (air traffic control platform provider).
Chair of the Independent Review Panel, Jeff Halliwell, stated:
“This interim report sets out the Panel’s work so far in understanding the root causes of the incident; the effectiveness of communications between NATS, other parts of the aviation sector, and the consumers; and the underpinning regulatory regime.
In developing the interim report, the Panel has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure the final report reflects a diverse range of perspectives.
In order to produce effective recommendations, the Panel has further lines of enquiry it is exploring in order to build a better understanding of how the aviation system can improve.”
Chief Executive of the UK Civil Aviation Authority, Rob Bishton, added:
“The UK Air Traffic Control system is vital to the safe and efficient management of millions of air journeys each year.
This interim report helps with the understanding of what went wrong, what worked well in response to this, and importantly what action can be taken to improve the UK’s aviation system for the future.
I’d like to thank the Panel for its continued work on this subject and we look forward to publishing the final report later this year. “
If you want to read the full report, click here to find out more.
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