Eighty-five planes flying over Kolkata remained out of contact with ATC for ten minutes
The government has asked for a report on the incident.
According to reports, a little after 7.30 am the screens at the Air Traffic Control or ATC that display the positions of aircraft reportedly went blank.
This reportedly shut the feed from aircraft tracking equipment. The controllers then turned to the "VHF" or Very High Frequency link to communicate with the aircraft but realized that was not working either.
Reports said the state-run BSNL network failed at the Kolkata airport, which led to a high frequency link with aircraft snapping. The lines, operated over internet protocol, are used to contact pilots and warn them about the distance between planes.
Kolkata region controls nearly half of India's continental airspace.
Frantic ATC officials then sent an SOS to their counterparts in Varanasi, Patna and Gaya and asked them to take over and guide aircraft movement.
Officials say the Kolkata ATC network was partially restored in 10 minutes.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
