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 ...
Could have been a mechanical failure, but if they were doing the proper preventative maintenance it should have been caught.
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Yep, it sounds like someone did not do something right, maintenance or otherwise. Especially if it took that long to get back up and running -- I was on a LORAN navigational transmitting station while in the USCG. We had backup generators, clunkers by today's standards, and we never had a problem firing up those in very short order to keep our signal on the air. Of course, we took very good care of them --- oh well.
I've been a roving cellular engineer for about 20 years now. We've installed hundreds of generators like the one shown in the photo at cellular switching offices and transmission sites Before going into wireless, I worked for a major fire alarm manufacturer and we routinely interfaced the fire alarm into the generator control so the line power would automatically disconnect and transfer to the generator if the alarm went off. These type systems are common in high rise office towers, hospitals, etc. It was either mechanical failure or somebody didn't do their PM work......pencil whipping preventative maintenance will bite you in the arse every time....
I'm trying to think of some good excuse for the pilot or flight attendants not to tell the passengers but I can't think of one. Neither can other frequent flyer friends I have spoken with. The situation sounds like it might be similar to that cruise ship mishap the other day. One news report says apparently the ship's crew did not notify the Coast Guard. A passenger did that!
Hi, This reply is from a controller at ZBW (Boston ARTCC), the equivalent of ZLA (LA ARTCC, in Palmdale) I'm the facility technology rep with 24 years experience in MHT, ZNY and ZBW.
I've been through a few outages. Most because private industry failed.
1) Telephone company worker ignored an alarm, because it was always faulty. One time it wasn't. Took out regional communications and radar. The radar and radios still worked at their remote sites, but is piped in to the regional centers via telephone lines. Got very quiet, radar went blank. The only phone working was a pay phone by the cafeteria. Sent a controller with a bunch dimes, that long ago, to notify all the surrounding facilities. Have since put some critical info on microwave lines, independent of telephone company.
2) Telephone worker over-rode several safety steps to test hub "A", then accidentally shut down hub "B". Both out of service. Regional center lost most radar/radio.
Privatizing ATC will only cost more and ERODE safety. A private company will only remove back-up systems, costs money to maintain them. The only private ATC systems making money are in New Zealand (reduced service)and somewhere near Mongolia (they just collect money for planes flying over, provide little service). The rest have required bailouts, can you say "AMTRAK"?
Also, most companies include wording in contracts to keep the government responsible. They mess up, government gets sued, where is the savings in that?
Can tell you more about back-up power. Generators and batteries. Not only do we have periodic testing, there is pro-active use. Just yesterday, expecting severe thunderstorms, the generators were running and facility already cut-over to back-up power. Long before the outage at ZLA. We ran over 6 hours on back-up power. No problems. (not to see we have not had glitches in the past) Do you think a private company would be that pro-active?
BTW, PSNH (Public Service of NH, our electric company) is the only electric company that will not take ARTCC generated power onto the grid, 19 other centers can!
Glad to answer any more questions,
Rohn
p.s. Controllers at ZLA used personal cell-phones to communicate with other facilities. The same phones that are banned from the control room by the administrator!
Didn't think we were discussing the complete backup power system.
The issue here is that the *single* generator failed, after utility power had failed. So what if the system had a UPS? Which I'm sure it did. The batteries won't last forever.
On the water cooling side, you should keep away from those systems, is all I have to say.
The article refers to *the* generator, implying there is only one. The picture shows a single generator, not a generator yard with multiple gensets.
Hi, Work as controller and technology rep at ZBW-Boston ARTCC, Boston Center, same type of building as ZLA- LA ARTCC, LA Center in Palmdale. "ARTCC" is Air Route Traffic Control Center, regional control facilities, my best explanation is we keep the Montreal to Miami flight from hitting the Boston to Chicago flight. A lot more complex than that, we also line-up arrivals into major approach controls so that they can "blend" the flow of traffic to the airport.
The "new" power system, "ACEPS" (ARTCC Critical Equipment Power Supply), consists of turbine generators and a battery UPS system. The batteries are similar to submarine batteries. Huge or should I use FR term "hugh" ACEPS is the same back-up power system used at most military facilities. ACEPS could power a town of about 30,000 people.
ZBW did have an interesting "event" a few years back. Running the ACEPS, and found a design flaw. Condensation collected in one conduit from the temperature extremes up here. The result, an exciting fireworks display of molten copper spewing into the parking lot!!! All the facilities, including military, had repairs.
We still use the "old" power system, four diesel generators, the type used on WWII destroyers. They were fired up yesterday, long before the ZLA outage. Ran on them for at least 6 hours, until the severe weather threat dissipated.
Testing: All facilities have mandated testing, some on full load conditions. Have been called in to observe a few. It really sucks if you get called in for testing on your day off, try to save the government some money by getting credit hours instead of OT.
We have done several power cutovers, always hold your breath. Only a few glitches, but they happen.
In ATC, like the Marines, must always be ready to adapt, improvise and overcome. Worked 24 years, and yet no two days the same!
Rohn
There are no generators in the picture. The Engine Generator building is on the other side of the building. "The Author" does not know what he is talking about.
"Yet another example why such work should not be handled by our government, but by private industry."
ATC should never be handed over to ve run by private companies!
All you have to do is look at Europe, ATC fees per mile cost more than the fuel.
"I'm trying to think of some good excuse for the pilot or flight attendants not to tell the passengers but I can't think of one."
You are not a pilot from that statement.
There would be no reason to tell the passangers since every plane in the system at the moment of outage has clearence to a destination and no more traffic is allowed into the airspace.
Even if sll communicstion is lost until every plane in on the ground there is still no danger.
Even the airfield is clear for each landing in the specified time slot.
Correct me if i'm wrong but I believe that Palmdale has been totally remoted all the personell (those that would move) sent to Mira Mar.
A friend of mine that was a controler at Palmdale had enough seniority that he moved to LAX.
Whatever went wrong, they probably had to send someone from L.A. to correct it which would account for the time that the facility was down.
Sorry but that does not explain to me why passengers have to be kept in the dark, perhaps some in a state of fear or panic. If the plane is supposed to be going to destination A, and there is an announcement that we instead going to destination B, with no further explanation, that does not seem right to me.
They don't go to destination B, they fly their clearence.
Their is no reason or any action of the aircraft that would indicate to any passanger that anything had occured.
> ... Work as controller and technology rep at
> ZBW-Boston ARTCC, Boston Center, ...
Nashua?
I toured that facility in the 70s (do they still do that?).
It was still on IBM 9020s then, and the tour guide was the
IT guy with the key around his neck - and when something
hiccuped in the back room, he vanished for a while.
I know this is late, but I stumbled upon it while trying to find the name of the contractor that I worked for actually installing the new generators and refurbishing the old ones at the Palmdale facility. There are(or were in the mid 90’s when we did the work) indeed seven generators at that facility. There were four originals and we added three new with space dedicated and plumbed for two more. I don’t remember any capacities of the system now, it’s been way too long. We also replaced the old wet cell battery back up system with dry cells for more capacity in the same space, as well as added new power conditioning systems and revamped the control system. this was a very complicated system. I spent three weeks working on terminating the control wiring alone. There were over 35,000 terminations for the control and conditioning, not counting the actual power conductors. With a system that complicated it’s hardly surprising something can go wrong.
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