HACKERS NOT TO BLAME FOR AIR RADAR FAILURE
Inquiry after flights hit by system glitch
A MASSIVE Air Traffic Control System failure was not due to hacking, the Irish Airport Authority said yesterday.
The IAA is trying to establish the events which to led to the closure of airspace and the cancellation of flights at Shannon and Cork airports.
The authority had to use a back-up system which was still in operation yesterday.
Dublin Airport was not affected as it operates on a different system.
An IAA spokesman said: “Our technical experts are working to isolate the root cause of the issue.
“These are complex systems and identifying the cause could take some time.
“The technical issue was not a radar problem and is most likely a simple software issue in a complex system. Shannon Airport There is nothing to suggest hacking or cybercrime. We will provide a full update once we identify the cause.
“In the meantime, we will continue a full, safe, secure Air Traffic Control service.”
The IAA’S director of commercial technology Philip Hughes told RTE Radio One’s Morning Ireland yesterday that safety was the main priority. He said: Cork Airport “Technical issues like this can happen which we have to plan for to make sure there’s no compromise to safety.
“We made a decision to go to our independent back-up system. In the meantime we are continuing to operate on an independent system so that will continue to deliver safe capacity to the travelling public.
“It is highly rare to have this kind of problem.”
A spokeswoman for Shannon Airport said all flights, bar one, arrived and departed on Tuesday night and services operated to schedule yesterday.
A Cork Airport representative added: “Just one outbound flight to London Heathrow was cancelled on Tuesday night and the return inbound.
“These passengers are being accommodated by Aer Lingus on one of the five daily Heathrow services today while last night’s passengers inconvenienced on the cancelled Birmingham flight were flown back today following the re-positioning of an aircraft this morning.
“All flights to and from Cork Airport today are operating to schedule.”