UK air traffic chief rejects calls to step down after radar system failure causes travel chaos
NOT DEPARTING UK air traffic chief rejects calls to step down after radar system failure causes travel chaos
THE head of air traffic control in Britain has ignored calls to quit as the latest flights meltdown continued to cause travel misery yesterday.
Thousands of passengers were still battling to get home or dealing with journeys disrupted by Wednesday's radar system failure.
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Martin Rolfe, the head of air traffic control in Britain, has ignored calls to quit
Credit: Alamy
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Wednesday's radar system failure caused more than 150 flights to be cancelled with others delayed or diverted
Credit: Peter Macdiarmid - Commissioned by The Sun
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Thousands of passengers are still battling to get home or dealing with journeys disrupted
Credit: Doug Seeburg
More than 150 flights were cancelled and others delayed or diverted by the glitch, with the knock-on effects still causing problems yesterday.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Martin Rolfe, the head of National Air Traffic Services, for talks — but he did not step down.
Airline bosses, led by Ryanair, had called for him to go after they had to rip-up timetables.
A similar 2023 failure cost carriers £100million — and they said lessons had not been learned.
Ms Alexander said of the latest drama: 'This was an isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity.
'I know that any disruption is frustrating for passengers.
"Flights are now resumed and I am grateful to airlines who are working hard to get people to where they need to be.'
She advised passengers to continue to check with airlines before travelling.
Monica Clare, 68, from Brentford, West London, will miss a friend's wedding because her Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow to Shannon in Ireland was cancelled yesterday.
The retired maintenance manager said: 'I'm absolutely numb.
'I'm so upset. I'm heartbroken. It's disgraceful.
"It's absolutely unbelievable in this day and age that something that went down for 20 minutes has caused havoc like that all over the country.
'I'm so upset, I'm so angry.
Brits face DAYS of travel chaos after all flights grounded at UK airports - as tech glitch 'mystery' grows
"I've spoken to my friend who's getting married. They're devastated.'
The Sun revealed cockpit crews were sent an urgent warning of the pending travel misery by controllers, who told them of an 'ATC radar failure'.
The disruption was the second to have happened as a result of a technical fault at Nats' hub in Swanwick, Hants, in two years.
Most of the disruption came at Heathrow, where 84 departures and 71 arrivals were cancelled, while some inbound flights had to be diverted to European cities.
BA flights were still being cancelled yesterday owing to aircraft and crew being out of position, contributing to 16 more cancellations at Heathrow.
Asked if Mr Rolfe should quit, Business Minister Gareth Thomas said: 'Clearly, an incident happened two years ago and measures were taken then.
"It looks like those measures weren't enough but we need to get to the bottom of what exactly happened.'
HEATHROW could handle 276,000 more flights a year and welcome budget airline easyJet for the first time under a £49billion
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Monica Clare will miss a friend's wedding because of the disruption
Credit: PA
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Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander summoned Martin Rolfe for talks
Credit: Alamy
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