Controversy is mounting over the consequences of the technical failure, not the first of its kind, which yesterday caused the British air traffic control computer system to crash, creating chaos at several airports, including London's Heathrow and Gatwick , with the cancellation of around two thousand flights. In Sardinia, the disruption was felt most at Olbia airport, where this morning some delays were again recorded on some flights to Great Britain.
As for the causes under scrutiny, the top management of the industry agency, National Air Traffic Services (NATS), are already under scrutiny for previous emergencies related to negligence and technical inefficiencies. Some carriers, including Ryanair, have once again called for the resignation of its director, Martin Rolfe. Rolfe apologized for the incident and for the "longer-than-we-had-hoped" time it took to return to normality, but has so far ruled out a retreat.
Meanwhile, embarrassing revelations about the incident's handling are emerging in the media, such as the need to involve a non-shift chief engineer who, unable to resolve issues remotely, took three hours to get to work due to traffic and the distance.
Heidi Alexander, Transport Minister in the Burnham government, has summoned Rolfe, and will later update Parliament, where – the BBC reports – she is expected to formally "categorically" rule out any fear of a cyberattack behind the glitch, a possibility that has never been raised from the outset.
(Unioneonline/vl)
