Temperamental technology puts reputations on the line
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Dublin's radar system is one of Europe's most modern, providing controllers with several layers of space-age technology to manage an increasingly crowded sky. But it has failed spectacularly five times in as many weeks.
Instead of one landing every minute, aircraft were yesterday only allowed in at the rate of one every two minutes, effectively halving the airport's capacity and causing massive disruption to both airlines and passengers.
The rate at which aircraft could take off was also badly affected.
No major airline escaped, with Aer Lingus cancelling 23 flights. Flights were diverted to Belfast, Dublin and Cork.
And those airlines which didn't cancel flights may be facing a major backlog today.
Instead of just a little blip on the screen, radar technology at the airport employs the latest generation of what is called Secondary Surveillance Radar (SSR), which attaches a label to each "blip" on the radar.
This label contains information that is broadcast from the aircraft, including its code-name, airline, route, altitude and speed. This information is invaluable to controllers and enables them to make rapid decisions.
But the combination of SSR radar and a sophisticated computer management system seems to be proving unreliable at Dublin. While the system has only failed a short time on each of the five recent occasions, controllers' confidence is shattered. They fear the data could prove unreliable and safety could be compromised.
It would be an exaggeration to say that lives were at stake, but reputations are certainly on the line.
Gerry Bynre is an aviation journalist.
- Gerry Byrne
