What Actions Did Civil Aviation Minister Take After ATC Glitch at Delhi Airport?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
- Immediate response by Civil Aviation Minister to address ATC system failures.
- Coordination among various agencies ensured rapid restoration of services.
- Manual operations implemented to prioritize passenger safety during system downtime.
- Future preventative measures include root-cause analysis and additional system enhancements.
- Successful resolution of technical issues led to no flight cancellations on the day.
New Delhi, Nov 8 (NationPress) Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu conducted a site visit to the Delhi Air Navigation Services (ANS) Centre located near the airport to assess the situation following a technical failure in the Air Traffic Control (ATC) messaging system at Delhi Airport, which resulted in flight delays and cancellations, as reported in an official statement on Saturday.
He was joined by Secretary (MoCA) Samir Kumar Sinha, Chairman (AAI) Vipin Kumar, and senior officials.
The minister instructed the ECIL CMD to send additional technical personnel to speed up restoration efforts. To reduce passenger inconvenience, Naidu also mandated the deployment of extra ATC staff at Delhi Airport to facilitate manual operations and ensure smooth air traffic management during the system's downtime.
From the beginning, teams from Airports Authority of India (AAI), Air Navigation Services (ANS), and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) worked tirelessly to pinpoint and resolve the issue.
ECIL quickly assigned more personnel to aid in the restoration. Throughout this period, ATC staff effectively managed flight operations manually to prioritize passenger safety and minimize disruption.
According to the ministry, “Thanks to the coordinated efforts of ECIL engineers, ATC personnel, and the ministry’s vigilant monitoring, the system was fully restored to automatic mode by the afternoon of November 8 (today). There were no flight cancellations today due to this issue.”
Afterward, Naidu inspected the ATC Tower to evaluate normalized operations and commended the dedication of the teams who worked overnight to rectify the issue.
Moreover, the minister has mandated a thorough root-cause analysis to prevent the recurrence of such technical failures in the future. He also directed officials to strategize further system improvements, including additional or backup servers to enhance ATC operations.
Following significant disruptions in flight operations at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) due to a technical fault in the ATC system, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) announced on Saturday that it has successfully resolved the technical issue within the Automatic Message Switching System (AMSS).