Raytheon pledges to fix new air traffic control system’s latest glitch by next week
Representatives from US-based manufacturer met Director-General of Civil Aviation Simon Li Tin-chui on Tuesday
The pledge by US-based manufacturer Raytheon came as its senior management was “instructed” by Director-General of Civil Aviation Simon Li Tin-chui to implement a proposed permanent fix.
The HK$1.56 billion Auto Trac III system has faced teething problems since it went fully operational on November 14, with the latest and worst fault occurring on November 29, when a failure to display flight details for 26 seconds prevented planes from departing the airport for 15 minutes.
The pledge was made on Tuesday by Raytheon representatives, including program manager Anthony Keane, senior principal software engineer David Maunder and senior principal systems engineer Thomas Richards, at a meeting with Li upon the Civil Aviation Department’s request.
A department spokesman said Raytheon had undertaken to make the fix available by next week. It will then be tested in accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s safety management process.
The department said Raytheon had noted that it was not uncommon to encounter similar situations in other new air traffic management systems.
The company will hold regular meetings and teleconferences with the department and take appropriate follow-up action to ensure smooth operation of the new system.
