Radar glitch caused flight halt in northern Italy, air traffic controller says

Flights in northwestern Italy were suspended for two hours late on Saturday due to a malfunction in the radar transmission system in Milan, the country’s air traffic controller Enav said.

New departures and entries into the airspace covered by the system were halted from 8:20 p.m. to 10:20 p.m. (1820-2020 GMT), the company said in a statement on Sunday. Capacity was gradually restored until returning to normal by midnight.

Enav activated an emergency satellite system to ensure the safe management of flights that were already in the air at the time of the incident, before halting new air traffic in the area in line with international safety standards.

“The problem affected the connectivity that allows radar data to flow to the operations room, which is provided by an external telecommunications supplier, namely TIM,” Enav said, referring to Telecom Italia.

TIM did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment.

Italian news agency Ansa said about 320 flights were affected due to the radar malfunction, adding that some 200 camp beds had been set up for passengers affected by the disruption in Milan’s two airports.