Breakdown causes delays for hundreds of flights in U.S.

ATLANTA — An electronic communication failure Tuesday at a Federal Aviation Administration facility that processes flight plans for the eastern half of the U.S. caused mass delays around the country. The Northeast was hardest hit.

But by early evening, the FAA said that the situation around the country was returning to normal, with delays remaining in Atlanta and Chicago.

Salt Lake City International Airport experienced only minimal delays Tuesday afternoon, said Dave Korzep, airport superintendent. Airport officials were expecting some late arrivals Tuesday evening from airports most affected by the communication failure.

"We're probably going to see some ripples from this," Korzep said, "but they won't be huge."

At one point, an FAA Web site that tracks airport status showed delays at some three dozen major airports across the country.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen in Atlanta said there were no safety issues, and officials were still able to speak to pilots on planes on the ground and in the air.

She said she did not know exactly how many flights were affected, but she said it was in the hundreds. The FAA did not expect to have total figures until today. Bergen said that in a 24-hour period, the FAA processes more than 300,000 flight plans in the U.S.

Bergen said the problem that occurred Tuesday afternoon involved an FAA facility in Hampton, Ga., south of Atlanta, that processes flight plans. She said there was a failure in a communication link that transmits the data to a similar facility in Salt Lake City.

As a result, the Salt Lake City facility was having to process those flight plans, causing delays in planes taking off. She said the delays were primarily affecting departing flights.

The National Airspace Data Interchange Network is a data communications system for air traffic controllers. It's used to distribute flight plans and allows controllers to know when planes are leaving, where they're going and other details.

Allen Kenitzer, a Western regional spokesman for the FAA, said the Utah system could handle the extra load while workers tried to get the Atlanta area system back online, but it was expected to slow down air traffic.

"We're not going to let an unsafe condition exist. It's just going to be slower," Kenitzer said.

FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere said Tuesday's glitch appeared to be a software problem and the situation was returning to normal, though the Hampton facility was not yet processing flight plans.