A Note to Our Readers

Dear Readers,
We make a special effort here to record the facts as we receive them. At times, there may be error but we do try to use our best judgement at the time of posting, and will be glad to amend any details which are proved incorrect. Furthermore, even though we do not here discuss the human cost, we realize that losing anyone in an air accident is insurmountable tragedy to individuals, families and communities. We do extend our heartfelt sympathy to those whose loss we record here. "...any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for..." us all.
Meditation XVII - (with apologies to) John Donne


2007/07/22

Radar Failure in Brazil

A radar outage from 11:15 p.m. Friday to 2:30 a.m. Saturday, caused by an electrical problem, forced planes heading to Brazil to return to their points of origin and make unscheduled landings.

The nation has had chronic problems with delays and cancellations on domestic flights over the past 10 months but this is the first radar outage.

Sao Paulo's Mayor Gilberto Kassab said that building a new airport could take between five and 10 years and is not a priority.

Officials mistakenly sent part of the plane's fuselage to the United States, thinking it was the flight recorder.

The real flight recorder had been located and would be sent to Washington for analysis.

The radar outage occurred when a short circuit cut off electricity during routine maintenance in the jungle city of Manaus. Power was restored by 1:30 a.m. Radar coverage was working again an hour later.

The ailing industry has not recovered from months of work slowdowns by air traffic controllers protesting precarious working conditions. holes in the country's radar coverage, antiquated equipment and flight controllers with only rudimentary knowledge of English.

No comments: