Air traffic control arson attack reveals comms shortcomings

An arson attack on a Chicago air traffic control centre by a telecoms employee caused a widespread communications blackout and loss of command and control functions.

In the early hours of 26 September, the Harris Corp telecommunications employee carried out an attack on equipment at the Chicago air route traffic control centre and then tried to kill himself.

The man, who had worked at the centre for eight years, cut underfloor wires and set fire to electronics racks in a basement equipment room. Twenty of the 29 racks have to be replaced.

The attack took out the centre’s automation system and the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) network, which provide information and flight plan data to air traffic controllers’ screens, and also knocked out voice comms between the centre and aircraft, adjacent ATC centres and control towers.

Many functions and radar coverage were quickly transferred to other air traffic control centres, with the exception of voice control. The air traffic control system uses a 1990s-vintage voice switching control system (VSCS) that cannot be networked.

The FAA has contracted Harris Corp to deploy a new voice system, called the National Airspace Voice System, beginning in 2019.

Other nations’ air traffic control systems have better redundancy built in; for instance, Eurocontrol’s centres in Brussels and Maastricht have mirror facilities.