Flights hit as new ATC system crashes

Luckily for the ATC,this was a lean period with respect to flight movements and CSIA saw just 17 arrivals and 15 departures during this two-hour window. During the peak hour,the airport sees around 35 to 40 movements per hour. Also the Auto Track 3 was in use on a trial basis with Auto Track 2 in the shadow mode for back-up.

It was not a system crash,there is nothing wrong with the Auto Track 3,but it developed a fault which was rectified. Till then Auto Track 2 was in use, said Mumbai Air Traffic Control General Manager M C Dangi. An ATC officer said the time lag before the old system kicked into place could not have been more than four minutes.

As per the procedure,all arrivals were given priority to land. In such a case,all arriving aircraft are given priority for landing. Two departures were delayed an Air Lanka flight and a Lufthansa flight, an ATC officer said. However,a MIAL spokesperson said the snag had led to a delay in flight movement of around 20-30 minutes.

Delhi had problems too

The AAI is in the process of upgrading the ATC systems at Delhi and Mumbai airports with the Auto Track 3 system. Officials had put off the upgradation from Auto Track 2 to Auto track 3 at the CSIA because of a similar system failure in Delhi last year,which had led to chaos.

Following that,AAI continued with tests at the Delhi airport. In March,the AAI chairperson V K Agrawal announced that the Auto Track 3 system had stabilised in Delhi and the same program would be adopted for CSIA.

The Auto Track 3 has been in place at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport CSIA only from May 15.