I wonder if anyone thought of backup systems .... y’know, like just in case?
I’d bet there are co-located backups systems. If so, they’re backed up computationally, but not for a facilities problem.
The last big disgruntled employee fire I remember is the submarine fire which damaged a nuclear sub beyond repair.
Ya, I’m surprised at a lack of backup systems, or emergency procedures.
I remember during some severe brush fires in the San Diego area, that a major air traffic control facility at Miramar was shut down due to the fires. The work was transferred to a facility in Palmdale, CA, so there was minimal disruption of air traffic control in the southwestern US at that time.
As the Chicago area carries so much air traffic, you would think a similar back up plan would have been in place there.
There is much backup and redundancy in the FAA equipment. In case of equipment failure the backup equipment takes over. This guy took out the online and backup equipment. He had been working three for something like 8 years and knew the systems quite well.
As of today they are reporting that the perp was fired from his contract job.
Gee . . . Take out an ATC Center, cause the ATC System to crash, shut down both major airports for a “major” city, and get fired a day and a half later.
DUH!