Air traffic control system down again

[arandomstranger]

I thought it was suspiciously quiet overhead. Looks like Heathrow is one big plane park. Other airports similarly affected.

[skyebear]

[Wills2]

[interstellar]

Yep. Been at Heathrow for 5 hours and my flight now departs at 00.11 so would have been here 12 hours.

It keeps changing as obviously they are guessing. I think it will get cancelled and we will be back tomorrow.

[Zed Ed]

Still very quiet over London.

Pity those on BA169 from Lhr to Shanghai who turned back after 4 hours and ended up in Cardiff.

[Quattromaster]

ANA from Tokyo was in the air for 14 hrs 20 mins, now been sitting on a taxiway at Stansted for another 2 hrs 30 mins, presume waiting for LHR to open.

Bet that’s fun.

[Zed Ed]

Looks like Lhr is moving now

[Hub]

Pretty grim for those stuck in stuffy Ryanair planes for 6 hours on the tarmac with no refreshments.

A few on social media speculating about the timing with the Israel sanctions.

[Muddle238]

Eurocontrol saying that there are no arrivals until 2200 for LHR and LGW, which is going to have enormous knock-on effects.

There was a BA 773 that landed from SFO, then sat on a taxiway for well over five hours before getting a stand. Lots more similarly affected.

The last "big" NATS failure was August 2023, when a rogue flight plan caused absolute carnage. There was a smaller outtage I believe last year, but that one only lasted about 20 minutes. It's amazing how quickly the whole programme falls to pieces the moment ATC stops functioning.

[grumbledoak]

skyebear said:

Er, I imagine he is smiling. But it's not Russia we just sanctioned and described as ethnic cleansing. It isn't the British Consulate in Moscow that just got closed as part of a package of countermeasures...

Best of luck to anyone caught up in this.

[M4cruiser]

Muddle238 said:

It's amazing how quickly the whole programme falls to pieces the moment ATC stops functioning.

Not really. Have you ever watched how LHR works? Everything is "just in time".

[interstellar]

Heathrow is a mess. Can’t leave as we all have to go through passport control to leave the airport but we haven’t even shown a passport or left the country.


Passport control is overwhelmed, just open the gates, no one needs to show a passport we haven’t left the airport.

Madness.

[M4cruiser]

interstellar said:

Heathrow is a mess. Can t leave as we all have to go through passport control to leave the airport but we haven t even shown a passport or left the country.


Passport control is overwhelmed, just open the gates, no one needs to show a passport we haven t left the airport.

Madness.

That's odd. They must have lost control of where everyone is, i.e. airside or not.

[cliffords]

My son boarded a plane at noon . At 6 pm he was still on the plane. He has gone quiet now I expect no phone battery.

[caiss4]

I was 3hrs in to a flight to LHR when the pilot announced that ATC issues meant we were diverting to Schipol. Landed and sat and waited for 2hrs on the tarmac whilst the crew tried to get more info. As I guessed the crew ran out of hours so we were offloaded with BA promising that ground staff would takeover in the terminal.

Surprise, surprise there was only one ground handling agent who didn’t know what was happening. After an hour our bags appeared as an email arrived from BA saying you’re on your own; sort out your own accommodation and we’ll reimburse you for reasonable expense including meals capped at £20 a head.

Currently sat in a basic hotel somewhere in Amsterdam with no idea how we’re getting back to LHR.

Thank goodness the holiday was good 😊

[Simpo Two]

Hub said:

Pretty grim for those stuck in stuffy Ryanair planes for 6 hours on the tarmac with no refreshments.

Why does this happen? Why are people left for 6 hours in a stuffy tube without refreshments? Can't somebody get drinks etc to them, or let them off for some fresh air?

[Mammasaid]

Martin Brundle stuck for 9 hours on the way to Madrid.

https://x.com/MBrundleF1/status/209741965179398965...

[MBBlat]

My sister was meant to be flying back today from Italy, flight cancelled and now not getting back until Thursday. My Mum is supposed to be on an early morning flight tomorrow, no idea if it will be operating. Im due out early Sunday from Gatwick, hopefully it will all be back to normal by then <insert fingers crossed smiley here>

[Burnaby]

Just got home after being sat on the plane for 4 hrs. Reading some of the posts here I guess I should consider myself one of the lucky ones. The day didn’t start too well when we drove around T2 parking for 20 minutes trying to find a space. The days events were nicely bookended at baggage collection when none of our cases came out. Turned out they were on a different conveyor to the one we were directed to.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines…

[Mabbs9]

Simpo Two said:

Why does this happen? Why are people left for 6 hours in a stuffy tube without refreshments? Can't somebody get drinks etc to them, or let them off for some fresh air?

If you're not on a gate then you need steps. There well be a few sets available for a huge number of aircraft. If you do get steps and disembark then you may have to get everyone to walk a mile or so across a busy airport. Some may be users of wheelchairs or babies. This is not a good idea. Most flights should have a small amount of catering left at the end but not very much.

Fresh air can be provided so it shouldn't be a hot stuffy tube. Just a tube.