Miami Airport Radar Knocked Out

© 2000

Sunday December 17 5:34 PM ET

MIAMI (AP) - A computer error knocked out radar at Miami International Airport for nearly an hour, forcing air traffic controllers to divert about 125 flights to an airport in Palm Beach County.

The radar was down from 6:37 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday. It was the third serious radar problem at Miami International in the past week.

``There was a computer-processing problem,'' said Kathleen Bergen, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in Atlanta. ``The computer wasn't tracking properly, the data wasn't correct.''

Flights scheduled to land at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International in Broward County, which relies on Miami radar, were also diverted to Palm Beach International Airport.

Saturday's radar trouble wasn't related to radar system failures Tuesday and Wednesday that contributed to two near midair collisions, Bergen said. On Tuesday, an American Airlines 757 and a United 767 came within little over a mile of each other, and on Wednesday, a United A320 Airbus and an American Eagle turboprop came within less than a mile of each other.

Standard separation for aircraft on approach is three miles. Bergen said the sweep on the controllers' screens had slowed down, causing them to momentarily lose some information. In both cases, on-board collision alert systems warned the pilots, who took emergency action.

-- Anonymous, December 17, 2000