Dozens of commercial aircraft were left virtually flying blind after a Monday outage at Denver airport’s air traffic control left pilots unable to communicate with controllers for 90 seconds.
The incident occurred Monday afternoon at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center in Longmont, which oversees aircraft movement across nine states.
Between 15 and 20 commercial aircraft approaching Denver International Airport lost all communication with controllers when multiple radio transmitters failed.
While initial reports indicated an outage of up to six minutes, the FAA has since clarified that the outage was approximately 90 seconds, and that it is “investigating” the cause.
According to ABC7, controllers were already operating on a backup fifth frequency when the system crashed, as four of the other frequencies had already crashed.
When the final frequency went down, a controller eventually reached one pilot using a seldom-used distress channel, who then relayed instructions to other aircraft.
David Riley, a retired air traffic controller with 32 years of experience, said this incident was a sign that the FAA’s equipment was “getting old” and is no longer a risk that should be tolerated.
“The biggest risk is you have airplanes that you’re not talking to. And then, therefore, the pilots have to try to figure it out themselves,” Riley said. “They still had radar coverage, but that’s like watching a car crash happen and not be able to do anything about it.”
“It’s not acceptable. And the biggest problem is the fact that the FAA does not have stable funding to replace this equipment and maintain it in an appropriate fashion.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy recently acknowledged the outdated infrastructure problem.
“We should be using fiber, but it’s copper. We use radar from the 1970s. Some of them are from the 80s, but most of them are from the 70s,” Duffy said. “So, this technology is 50 years old that our controllers use to scan the skies and keep airplanes separated from one another.”
The Transportation Department now plans to ask Congress for billions to overhaul the system, including replacing 618 radars and upgrading all FAA computers that controllers use.
The FAA has experienced severe staffing shortages, with Newark Liberty International Airport recently operating with just three controllers when 14 were needed.
In a statement to Fox Business on Thursday, the FAA admitted that the Denver outage was partially due to how the “antiquated air traffic control system is affecting our workforce.”
The incident comes amid growing concerns about air safety following several high-profile aviation accidents and near-misses across the United States in recent months.
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