Heathrow suspends all departures after ATC equipment failure
London Heathrow halted all departing flights Tuesday afternoon following a technical failure in air traffic control equipment, compounding earlier disruptions from a brief runway closure due to a bird strike.
All departures were stopped at London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday afternoon after a technical failure disrupted air traffic control communications and equipment. The ground stop took effect at 12:48 p.m. local time, according to airport management, who said outgoing operations were temporarily halted while technical teams worked to restore normal functionality.
Earlier in the day, arrivals on runway 27R were suspended at 11:07 a.m. because of a bird strike. Controllers diverted active flight operations to runway 27L. The affected runway reopened six minutes later after inspection.
The ATC outage caused further delays across the airfield. Departing aircraft queued on taxiways and passengers waited in terminals. Airport officials advised departing passengers to check flight status with their airlines before traveling to the airport, warning of severe knock-on delays.
Sources
- airlive.netBREAKING All departures stopped at London Heathrow