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| Flight disruption: Air traffic glitch 'not seen before' | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Disruption at UK airports was caused by a computer system failure "which has not been seen before", National Air Traffic Services (Nats) has said. | |
| The fault at the national air traffic control centre in Swanwick caused problems across the UK on Friday. | |
| Flights have been returning to normal on Saturday, although almost 40 were cancelled at Heathrow. | Flights have been returning to normal on Saturday, although almost 40 were cancelled at Heathrow. |
| Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin will be questioned by MPs on Monday about the chaos caused. | |
| On Friday, he said the situation was "unacceptable" and asked for a full explanation from Nats about what had gone wrong and what it would do to prevent such an incident happening again. | |
| Labour has called for ministers to "get a grip". | |
| 'Safety not compromised' | |
| In a statement, Nats said the number of workstations "in use" at its control centre versus "in standby" fluctuated with the demands of the traffic being controlled. | |
| "In this instance a transition between the two states caused a failure in the system which has not been seen before," it said. | "In this instance a transition between the two states caused a failure in the system which has not been seen before," it said. |
| "The failure meant that the controllers were unable to access all of the data regarding individual flight plans which significantly increases their workload." | "The failure meant that the controllers were unable to access all of the data regarding individual flight plans which significantly increases their workload." |
| Nats said it then had to "reduce the traffic into and out of the UK network". | |
| "The controllers had a full radar picture and full communications with all aircraft at all times during the incident and at no time was safety compromised in any way," it added. | |
| 'Back to normal' | |
| The glitch caused many delays at Heathrow and Gatwick on Friday, where departing flights were grounded for a time. | The glitch caused many delays at Heathrow and Gatwick on Friday, where departing flights were grounded for a time. |
| Dozens of arrivals and departures at airports across southern England, and as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh, were delayed and cancelled. | Dozens of arrivals and departures at airports across southern England, and as far north as Aberdeen and Edinburgh, were delayed and cancelled. |
| On Saturday, Heathrow Airport said 38 flights due to arrive or take off before 09:30 GMT had been cancelled but the subsequent schedule was "back to normal". | On Saturday, Heathrow Airport said 38 flights due to arrive or take off before 09:30 GMT had been cancelled but the subsequent schedule was "back to normal". |
| A Heathrow spokesman said the cancelled flights could not be rescheduled because the airport ran at 98% capacity. He said passengers would be rebooked on other services. | A Heathrow spokesman said the cancelled flights could not be rescheduled because the airport ran at 98% capacity. He said passengers would be rebooked on other services. |
| British Airways said there may be "some disruption" to its Heathrow flights on Saturday. | British Airways said there may be "some disruption" to its Heathrow flights on Saturday. |
| It said Gatwick and London City flights were expected to operate as normal but advised all passengers to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport. | It said Gatwick and London City flights were expected to operate as normal but advised all passengers to check the status of their flight before leaving for the airport. |
| Gatwick Airport said it was operating a full service on Saturday although there would be "some backlog". | |
| Stansted said all its flights were running on schedule. | Stansted said all its flights were running on schedule. |
| Many other airports are also due to run their scheduled Saturday flights on time, according to their websites. | Many other airports are also due to run their scheduled Saturday flights on time, according to their websites. |
| Swanwick air traffic control centre | Swanwick air traffic control centre |
| Swanwick controls the 200,000 square miles of airspace above England and Wales, cost £623m to build, and employs about 1,300 controllers. | Swanwick controls the 200,000 square miles of airspace above England and Wales, cost £623m to build, and employs about 1,300 controllers. |
| But the facility, which handles more than 5,000 flights every 24 hours, has had a troubled history. | But the facility, which handles more than 5,000 flights every 24 hours, has had a troubled history. |
| It opened in 2002, six years after its planned commissioning date - a delay which Nats said was due to problems with the software used to power its systems. | It opened in 2002, six years after its planned commissioning date - a delay which Nats said was due to problems with the software used to power its systems. |
| Almost a year after it opened, a senior air traffic controller raised concerns with the BBC about health and safety standards and complications with radio communications - which he said cut out erratically. | Almost a year after it opened, a senior air traffic controller raised concerns with the BBC about health and safety standards and complications with radio communications - which he said cut out erratically. |
| Technical problems and computer faults hit flights in 2008 and again last summer. And, in December 2013, problems with the internal telephone system then caused further delays. | Technical problems and computer faults hit flights in 2008 and again last summer. And, in December 2013, problems with the internal telephone system then caused further delays. |
| Friday's problems came a year after a telephone failure at the Hampshire control room caused huge disruption - one of a number of technical hitches to hit the part-privatised Nats since the centre opened in 2002. | Friday's problems came a year after a telephone failure at the Hampshire control room caused huge disruption - one of a number of technical hitches to hit the part-privatised Nats since the centre opened in 2002. |
| BBC correspondent Andy Moore said the issue only lasted for between 30 minutes and one hour but caused chaos because the UK's air traffic control system runs at 99% capacity. | |
| 'Full pelt' | |
| Martin Clipp, a former senior operations manager at Nats, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You can't build absolute resilience... in terms of the technology that backs up the systems. | |
| "The system runs pretty much at full pelt. That means as soon as the slightest thing goes wrong the ripples go out enormously." | |
| However, Mr Clipp said Nats was being required by the Civil Aviation Authority to cut costs, which had led to redundancies this year. | |
| "There is no risk in safety but there is risk in service continuity," he said. "You get what you pay for." | |
| Have you been affected by the UK airspace disruption? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. | Have you been affected by the UK airspace disruption? You can get in touch by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk. |
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