Network Failure Cripples Airports, Again
Network Failure Cripples Airports, Again
September 27, 2007: International Airports see countless thousands of passengers cruise through the terminals every day, so why it that the tiniest piece of technology is capable of cripling the entire operation.
Back in August a tiny hardware fault with a network card on just one computer sent the entirety of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) into chaos and all the planes had to be grounded. Whilst it is yet to be revealed as to whether it was another network card problem, what authorities are labeling a ‘telecommunications network failure’ has done the same thing to Memphis Airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to ground all aircraft at Memphis and clear all traffic within a 250 mile radius. The problem with doing this is it then starts a flow on effect to feeding airports that can’t send planes to Memphis, and this then spirals to other airports making the congestion spread like a cancer.
"What we did is put a ground stop in place for any flight that would transition through that airspace. We held them on the ground wherever they were, whether it was Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston," FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told AP
In LAX’s case the problem was actually made all that much worse by the fact that it’s the fifth busiest airport in the world and handles more ‘origin and destination’ passengers (non-connecting) then any other airport in the world.
Memphis has its own share of problems, being that it is the one of the world’s largest cargo operations with UPS and FedEx’s major hub residing there. Not only can an airport disruption delay passengers, but it can also severely impact associated networks such as mail and shipping.
While it’s as yet unreleased what precisely caused the Memphis network failure, considering the LAX issue was caused by one faulty network card, it makes one wonder how up to date and resilient is your current backup solution.