Chaos Back to Brazilian Airports After Computer Goes Down

Big lines and delays at Brazilian airports Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, changed his morning schedule this Monday, March 12, for an emergency meeting with Defense Minister, Waldir Pires; Air Force Commander, Juniti Saito, and Milton Zuanazzi, the National Agency of Civil Aviation, head.

The president wanted to know why once again the country's main airports were in chaos mode. Heavy rains in São Paulo, Brazil's largest air hub, had already disrupted air traffic on Saturday in Congonhas, the nation's busiest airport.

On Sunday, things got much worse when there was a technical failure at Cindacta 1, Brasí­lia's Air Traffic Defense and Control Integrated Center. Computers there were down for close to one hour.

Congonhas had to be closed twice on Sunday, first due to the rains and then Cindacta failed. The service collapse in São Paulo provoked a chain reaction bringing to a halt operations in the country's Midwest and Southeast.

Close to 30% of 543 flights, this Monday, in Brazilian airports until 9:30 this morning, were delayed for one hour or more. Some Sunday flights had to be rescheduled for Monday adding to the trouble.

For the president of airport authority Infraero, Lieutenant Brigadier José Carlos Pereira, the situation in the Brazilian airports won't be back to normal before Tuesday, March 20.

He blamed the Brazilian Air Force for the Cindacta's failure on Sunday, which, according to him, paralyzed all air traffic for 40 minutes. Pereira told reporters that the problem can reoccur at any minute:

"This should be solved by tomorrow night. But I cannot guarantee that it won't happen again in 15 days. I would be lying if I promised that. In the spirit of telling the population the truth, a problem like the one yesterday can happen again at any moment."

The Infraero chief said that the trouble was that the Air Force's computer at Cindacta 1, in Brazilian capital Brasí­lia went down. He exonerated himself and his department from any blame: "I can only answer for Infraero. When we saw what was happening we started getting ready for the early morning."

On Sunday, Congonhas's main runway was closed for two hours, after the rains flooded the area, which lacks a proper drainage system. This is a problem that will not be solved soon. Congonhas's secondary runway is being repaired. Only in one month when the work finishes the drainage problems can be tackled by the Congonhas administration. This shouldn't happen before June.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Sweets, the Brazilian Way

According to Yahoo! Brasil, the Brazilian creme de leite craze is catching on outside ...

Amazon river

Brazil Sends Expedition to Prove the Amazon is the Planet’s Longest River

Which is the largest river in the world? Would it be the Nile, in ...

Ghanaians Resort to Shrink and Prayers While Getting Ready for Brazil

Defending champion Brazil is bracing for a tricky match against Ghana in the second ...

Why We Failed: Brazil and World Politicians Can’t See Humanity, Only Voters

Everyone knows that the Copenhagen meeting failed in its attempt to impede the climate-change ...

Brazil Needs 2000 Additional Federal Judges

At a meeting with the United Nations’s special rapporteur, Leandro Despouy, Brazil’s president of ...

Rio-based Pandeiro Jazz Pioneer Scott Feiner Goes the Crowdfunding Way

Rio de Janeiro-based Scott Feiner, like many independent artists of late, is reaching out ...

Brazil Boosts Help to Victims of Child Abuse

Beginning in August, six more states in Brazil will provide specialized care to children ...

Brazil-US Relations Worsen After Revelations of Washington Spying

The Brazilian government intends to probe telecommunications companies operating in Brazil to find out ...

Brazil Gets Biggest Piece of Foreign Investment in LA: US$ 18 Bi

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Latin America and the Caribbean grew 44% in 2004, ...

WordPress database error: [Table './brazzil3_live/wp_wfHits' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `wp_wfHits`