Communications Outage at Denver International Airport
Denver International Airport experienced a communications outage for 90 seconds, leaving up to 20 pilots unable to contact air traffic controllers. The incident was due to radio transmitter failures and exacerbated by backup frequency issues. Aviation experts explain recent plane crashes as random clustering rather than a systemic safety issue. The FAA is investigating the outage.
Key Points
- Communication outage lasted 90 seconds due to radio transmitter failures.
- Backup frequencies also failed, exacerbating the situation.
- Aviation experts attribute recent plane crashes to random clustering rather than systemic safety issues.
- FAA is investigating the incident at Denver International Airport.
Pros
- Disaster was averted as a controller was able to contact one pilot via an emergency channel.
- Despite the outage, aircraft remained safely separated with no reported impacts to operations.
Cons
- The communication failure lasted 90 seconds, affecting up to 20 aircraft during a critical time.
- Old equipment failures and lack of redundancy in communication systems were blamed for the incident.