Computer Glitch Triggered Failure of Airport System

The failure of an aircraft-guidance system that delayed 32 flights at John Wayne Airport for 2 1/2 hours Sunday was caused by a computer glitch and a power switch overload, Federal Aviation Administration officials said Monday.

The video-mapping system, which plots moving aircraft and their position relative to the airport and other navigational references, failed at 11:09 a.m. because of a malfunction in the computer network at the Southern California Terminal Radar Approach Control at Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego, said FAA spokesman Hand Verbais.

Technicians fixed the computer at 12:47 p.m., but seven minutes later, the system failed again, this time because of an overload to a power switch, Verbais said.

The system was repaired at 1:44 p.m.

In the meantime, pilots were forced to land at John Wayne using a visual system and air traffic controllers to calculate their approaches. Planes could only arrive and depart one at a time.

In all, 14 departing flights and 18 arriving flights were delayed, Verbais and airport spokeswoman Pat Ware said.

The delay was further exacerbated by gusts of Santa Ana winds, which did not abate until after 2 p.m., Ware said.

“The wind conditions caused commercial aircraft to take off to the north instead of the Newport Back Bay, and it made the air traffic system a little more congested,” she said.

The malfunction was confined to the video-mapping system and did not affect the rest of the radar system, Verbais said. FAA technicians are investigating why the system failed and how similar breakdowns can be prevented, he said.