FAA says Denver air traffic briefly lost communications on Monday
(Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration said on Thursday that Denver air traffic control lost communications for about two minutes on Monday but was able to maintain contact through an emergency frequency.
Franklin McIntosh, the FAA's deputy head of air traffic control, said during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing that at the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center both the main and backup frequencies failed for about two minutes but a controller was then able to transmit to the aircraft to move to a secondary frequency.
He said there was no loss of separation between airplanes during the outage.
"Anytime there are these outages, which are happening more regularly now, it is very concerning," said Representative Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, at an FAA oversight hearing.
The FAA said in a written statement it is investigating after part of the center experienced a loss of communications around 1:50 p.m. in Denver, when both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down.
"Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations," the FAA said.
FAA communications failures have gained urgent attention due to a series of telecom outages at the facility overseeing Newark air traffic after three incidents have shaken public confidence.
The FAA relocated control of the Newark airspace to Philadelphia last year to address staffing and congested New York City area traffic. But the FAA is about 3,500 air traffic controllers below targeted staffing levels.
The latest incidents highlight the air traffic control network's aging infrastructure and come after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last week proposed spending billions of dollars to fix it over the next three to four years.
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The NTSB has also called for aircraft to be equipped with 'ADS-B in,' the ability to receive data from surrounding aircraft and display it on a cockpit screen for pilots. The NTSB can make recommendations, but it is up to the FAA to mandate something. On Friday, the FAA agreed it should be required, but stopped short of saying it will act on the issue. 'Does the FAA, right now, support requiring that any newly manufactured aircraft registered in the US be equipped with ADS-B in?' Homendy, the NTSB chair asked. 'Yes, ma'am,' McIntosh, the FAA chief operating officer replied. 'Do you also support or oppose requiring that any aircraft required to be equipped with ADS-B out today… also be required to install and operate ADS-B in?' Homendy followed up. 'Yes, ma'am,' McIntosh replied again. 'Your position has shifted, and I appreciate that,' Homendy said. 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'I don't like saying that 12th aviation battalion gives us all pause in the community. And I'm speaking from my group there; we are all very uncomfortable when those two units are operating.' An NTSB determination of the collision's probable cause is expected in January.
