Posted on 07/19/2006 12:53:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LOS ANGELES - A power outage at a major air traffic control center in Palmdale delayed flights in and out of Southern California for more than an hour Tuesday, a disruption that quickly backed up flights across parts of the western United States and Canada.
The outage was reported shortly after 5:30 p.m., shutting down all telephone, electrical and radar functions. Power was restored about 80 minutes later when the center's backup generator kicked in, said Allen Kenitzer, a regional spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Air traffic began to flow back into the Los Angeles area by 8 p.m., Kenitzer said.
The outage quickly caused a domino effect, however, that disrupted flights from several states and Canada, resulting in some being canceled.
"Safety is never compromised, but obviously it's caused an inconvenience," Kenitzer said.
A spokesman for Southern California Edison said a vehicle crashed into a power pole on 10th Street West near Avenue O-8 shortly after 4 p.m., causing a power fluctuation that prompted the air traffic control center's backup generator to automatically turn on. About an hour later, the Edison spokesman said, that generator failed.
"Their backup generator sensed there was a problem and kicked in, but for some inexplicable reason it malfunctioned," said Marlon Walker, a spokesman for the utility.
The driver of a pickup truck that crashed into the pole suffered minor injuries, sheriff's Sgt. Dan Oppenheim said.
FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown in Washington said she couldn't confirm that the backup generator failed, adding the cause of the outage was still under investigation.
The center handles high-altitude aircraft, mostly long-distance flights traveling at 18,000 feet and above, in Southern California and parts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah.
"They put plans in place to make sure they can always communicate with planes," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at avpress.com ...
"OUTAGE SITE - The Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale is shown in this Sept. 14, 2004, photo. A 90-minute power outage at the center Tuesday disrupted flights in and out of Southern California airports, said Allen Kenitzer, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman."Valley Press files
Does that mean two days ago, tomorrow.....???? :)
That generator should have worked -- someone should swing for that. No excuse on something as critical as ATC.
I don't know about "swing". Dangle a little maybe.
Yet another example why such work should not be handled by our government, but by private industry. Had this happened to a contractor, they could be sued. Instead, there will be an awards banquet to celebrate the person who remembered how to push the 'on' button on the backup generator.
"That generator should have worked -- someone should swing for that. No excuse on something as critical as ATC."
At our comany we have three huge Caterpillar emergency generators and two extras on flatbed trucks. They are tested once a week to ensure their reliability. I wonder why the FAA couldn't do that?
Doesn't matter if that generator worked or not. It's just a machine like any other. It can malfunction. What's inexcusable is not having redundant backup generators for this important function. Why not??
My brother got caught in this mess. He was on a flight from DFW to Ontario CA that had to be diverted to El Paso for refueling. What is most disturbing to me is that he says the airline did not tell passengers why they were being diverted. A lot of people on the plane were scared and I don't blame them. Some wondered if there had been a terror attack on the west coast. If I had been on the plane I would be complaining angrily about the lack of communication.
> They are tested once a week to ensure their reliability.
> I wonder why the FAA couldn't do that?
They do run routine tests. Do they run them long enough?
Do they run them under full (presumably simulated) load?
Even if they had, would the fault have been detected?
I am a retired AF air traffic controller and our radar and tower facilities have similar backup generators. Generators were run once per week but I can never remember any type of test where the electrical load was shifted to a backup generator. Not being an engineer I don't know why the load was never tested but it wasn't.
Regional ATC should have multiple generators.
There are five and may be as many as seven generators. They are checked monthly on a load bank. The whole system has been upgraded across the country within the last 10 years. The generators make over 3 megawatts and there is a battery backup system that could also be 3 megawatts. The system is quite complicated and parts are hard to get from the contractor. I don't think that I would like to have a contractor running the system, That would really be asking for trouble.
Backup power is not the answer ,, it implies that an outage is acceptable while you're getting the generator started up... critical facilities should be constantly on UPS power ,,, the typical setup would be ...
UTILITY CO.==> BATTERY BANK ==> DC/AC INVERTERS
that way when the power goes off you still run without interruption on battery power ,, this also isolates you from lightning... when the public utility goes offline you then have ..
GENERATOR ==> BATTERY BANK ==> DC/AC INVERTERS
to insure that the diesel generators start and deliver full power immediately you plumb their "coolant" lines into the chiller ( AirCon / HVAC ) system or water cooling lines for water cooled computer equipment at the facility so they start warm from the waste heat from the AC..
> ... our radar and tower facilities have similar backup
> generators. Generators were run once per week but I can
> never remember any type of test where the electrical
> load was shifted to a backup generator.
Since the point of testing is that you aren't sure it
will work, so you'd never test with the live load, except
possibly in a period where zero traffic is expected.
But it is possible to simulate the load at the gen,
using, for example, the sort of large resistor arrays
that diesel-electric locomotives employ for "dynamic
braking". This raises the capital cost of the backup
solution, but also raises confidence in the testing.
I also wonder if, rather than just wasting the test
power, they couldn't sync the gens to the line, and
sell the power back to the power company. Some
malfunction risks there, I suppose.
There are five and may be as many as seven generators. They are checked monthly on a load bank. The whole system has been upgraded across the country within the last 10 years. The generators make over 3 megawatts and there is a battery backup system that could also be 3 megawatts. The system is quite complicated and parts are hard to get from the contractor. I don't think that I would like to have a contractor running the system, That would really be asking for trouble.
Ditto that.
The company that I have my colocated web servers at, tests weekly for automatic startup, and monthly under full load.
See that brown, precast building in the picture. That is the generator room. Normally, they are on automatic transfer switches and are regularly "exercised". Could have been a mechanical failure, but if they were doing the proper preventative maintenance it should have been caught.
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