AvTalk Episode 388: The difference a millisecond makes

On this week’s AvTalk, we’re back from Dorkfest/SpotLAX with a busy week of news. We’re digging into the ATC failure that snarled traffic in the northeast US to start the week. And the preliminary technical report from NATS on the 8 September outage of the London Control Area says that one millisecond made all the difference between normal operation and the the cancellation of 2,000 flights. Plus Michael O’Leary gives his thoughts.

And we have a new kind of show notes this week thanks to some feedback from long-time listeners. Once you click play on the podcast, you can click the time code to jump straight to that section. Links to supporting materials are in the section title.

–01:45 Opening / A380 episode-number discussion

–05:38 Cranky Dorkfest and SpotLAX recap

–09:38 FAA SMART system and machine learning vs AI

–14:35 PHL TRACON outage — those cables aren’t buried that deep

–19:10 NATS September 8 outage: preliminary technical report

–23:26 Prestwick connectivity outage and airline reaction with a choice quote from Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary

–26:52 GAO report on aviation communications security

–29:19 Embraer E2 GPS problems — Azul, Porter, others?

–33:09 KLM power-bank fire and inconsistent airline battery rules

–35:04 Beijing airspace restrictions — A 600 km wide safety zone