Hong Kong airport board members pledge to look into chaos after flight display system failure
- Lawmakers and experts express concerns about computer malfunction and question why backup system failed
Board members of Hong Kong’s Airport Authority have pledged to follow up on an hours-long breakdown of the flight information display system and poor contingency plans that left passengers scrambling to find their boarding gates, with the provision of real-time data only fully restored on Monday morning.
Lawmakers and experts also expressed concerns about the computer malfunction – the second major incident to hit the airport in a week after a runway shutdown sparked chaos last Monday – and questioned why the display backup system failed.
The authority, operator of Hong Kong International Airport, said Sunday’s computer failure had resulted in “a few” flight delays. Staff were forced to write flight departure times and gate numbers on whiteboards, leaving areas crowded with passengers desperately looking for information.
Lawmaker and authority board member Rock Chen Chung-nin said on Monday that the airport had activated its backup system after the main one developed a glitch, but it failed to carry out all of its functions, forcing staff to perform some manually.
He said airport staff located the problem in the main system around noon on Sunday, but experts suggested that the backup continued to be used to avoid other systems being affected.