§ Mr. FoulkesTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has about the loss of power and subsequent loss of air traffic control service at Atlantic house, Prestwick on Friday 2 November; if he will set up an inquiry into the incident; what action he is taking to ensure there is no recurrence, and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. McLoughlinThe power failure at the Scottish and oceanic air traffic control centre, which occurred at 2.37 pm on 2 November, lasted for eight minutes and resulted in radar data on the height and position of aircraft being unavailable to air traffic controllers at the centre for a period of 13 minutes. Ground-to-air VHF communications links were maintained throughout this period and standard procedures for reverting to a manual mode of operation were immediately activated. The transition to the manual mode of operation was achieved by the controllers professionally and without incident. Safety standards were unimpaired, although some flights were delayed.
The Civil Aviation Authority has already set up a full inquiry into the incident, whose purpose is to establish beyond doubt the causes of the failure and to take the necessary remedial action to prevent a recurrence.