FAA Says Aviation System Aced Y2K Test

Federal Aviation Administration officials are confident the U.S. aviation system will withstand the Year 2000 computer glitch after successfully completing a live test of their software fixes early Sunday.

As clocks on test systems at Denver International Airport clicked toward the pretend witching hour of midnight on Dec. 31, an air traffic controller and the pilot of an FAA plane on its final approach to the airport held a conversation that bridged the gap of the new century.

“Convair three-niner, Denver approach,” the controller said. “Time is one minute prior to entering the new millennium in our test systems. How do you read this transmission?”

The pilot replied: “Loud and clear, and if we disappear off the screen, it means we went into the next millennium.”

A minute later, after the clocks read Jan. 1, 2000, the controller said: “You are now flying in the Year 2000 in our test system. How do you read this transmission?”

The pilot replied, “It’s loud and clear. It went right through the sound barrier very nicely.”

There were similarly successful results across an array of FAA computers, including those that track ground traffic, airport weather and the status of landing lights and remote radio beacons.

FAA Administrator Jane Garvey, who stayed up to watch the end of the four-hour test, was pleased.

“Quite honestly, you had to watch the clock to be aware it was changing,” Garvey said.

Because of the way many older computers are programmed, some software views years in a two-digit format, such as “99” for 1999. There is widespread concern that unless software is patched or rewritten, computers will malfunction when the century ends and the calendar changes from “99” to “00,” which may be interpreted as 1900 instead of 2000.