Air Safety Week: Chicago Controllers Bugged by Computer Glitches

It's not working. New software used to track airplanes in the busy Chicago airspace is faulty, and may lead to serious problems, according to controllers at Chicago's Elgin Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility (TRACON). In late August, upgrades to the Automated Radar Terminal System (ARTS) III-E 6.05 at the Elgin TRACON were completed according to the FAA's Year 2000 compliance timetable. FAA officials declare the new system Y2K compliant, but "wrinkles" in the software have led to erroneous information being displayed on computer screens. The software problems have serious ramifications for the entire air traffic control system as Y2K upgrades are simultaneously taking place at other ATC facilities, including New York, Denver and Dallas/Ft.

Worth.

"It crashed. We scrambled. The FAA decided it wasn't working right and they weren't bringing it back until it was fixed," said Kurt Granger, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association's Elgin TRACON local C-90. "Then they brought it back and it is still not working right. The FAA says it is safe. But we're saying it isn't. And they're scrambling very hard to fix it again."

Granger said the FAA should "test the software in a lab before testing it on people and live aircraft." That may not happen. The FAA's Y2K program point-man, Paul Takemoto, reiterated that not only is the new system Y2K compliant, but "the system is being tested where it is being installed...on site."

FAA officials admit to some "bugs" in the ARTS 6.05 software, which are currently being corrected, but they do not see an urgent safety issue. "We've encountered a number of site-specific issues with the software and we're continuing to address and resolve every issue," said Don Zochert, an FAA official in Chicago. "We have since collected data at all Chicago area radar locations we'll forward that data to the technical center in Atlantic City to identify the individual problems and the frequency of those problems." Furthermore, Zochert explained that ARTS 6.05 will be fully "commissioned" (the FAA's final certification) once the bugs are smoothed out in the software. "We don't feel there are issues of significant magnitude here," he said. But controllers responsible for deciphering those radar blips remain skeptical. NATCA's Granger compares it to playing "roulette."

"I need the system to work all the time, not some or part of the time. The controllers are not happy with the equipment and I'm not sure if the equipment is really fixed or not," Granger groused. >> Granger, tel. 847/608-5631, Takemoto, tel. 202/493-4305, Zochert, tel.

847/294-1427 << On the State of ARTS 6.05:

* NATCA Says: "What it all comes down to is risk and rewards. I think it is an unacceptable risk."

- Kurt Granger, National Air Traffic Controllers Association * FAA Counters: "We can't stop the world and get off when it comes to air traffic control. We don't feel there are issues of significant magnitude here."

- Don Zochert, FAA's Great Lakes Region