From: morrisj@epsilon3.com   
      
   On 5/3/2014 10:07 PM, danny burstein wrote:   
   > Mary S... you still around?   
   >     ========   
   > eyup. That's what NBC News is claiming happened.   
   >      ====   
   > Spy Plane Fries Air Traffic Control Computers, Shuts Down LAX   
   >   
   > A relic from the Cold War appears to have triggered a software glitch at   
   > a major air traffic control center in California Wednesday that led to   
   > delays and cancellations of hundreds of flights across the country,   
   > sources familiar with the incident told NBC News.   
   >   
   > On Wednesday at about 2 p.m., according to sources, a U-2 spy plane, the   
   > same type of aircraft that flew high-altitude spy missions over Russia   
   > 50 years ago, passed through the airspace monitored by the L.A. Air   
   > Route Traffic Control Center in Palmdale, Calif. The L.A. Center handles   
   > landings and departures at the region's major airports, including Los   
   > Angeles International (LAX), San Diego and Las Vegas.   
   >   
   > The computers at the L.A. Center are programmed to keep commercial   
   > airliners and other aircraft from colliding with each other. The U-2 was   
   > flying at 60,000 feet, but the computers were attempting to keep it from   
   > colliding with planes that were actually miles beneath it.   
      
   Later article stated that the U2 was flying at 60,000 feet under visual   
   flight rules.  Unfortunately no one had told the computer and this is an   
   exception to the rule.  That was the "flight plan processing issue". The   
   computer ordered it to under 10,000 and started clearing everything out   
   of it's path but it went bonkers trying to reroute everything.  System   
   is being updated to let aircraft fly VFR at above 10,000 is it's in the   
   flight plan.   
      
   http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-u2-spy-plane-airline   
   service-disruption-20140505-story.html   
      
      
   >   
   > Though the exact technical causes are not known, the spy plane's   
   > altitude and route apparently overloaded a computer system called ERAM,   
   > which generates display data for air-traffic controllers. Back-up   
   > computer systems also failed.   
   >     =====   
   > rest:   
   > http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/spy-plane-fries-air   
   traffic-control-computers-shuts-down-lax-n95886   
   >   
   > _____________________________________________________   
   > Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key   
   >               dannyb@panix.com   
   > [to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)