[BC] 3,000 Birds Disrupt Radar

[Paul Smith W4KNX]

The birds were probably squawking the wrong code.

Paul Smith
Sarasota, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net
[mailto:broadcast-bounces at radiolists.net]On Behalf Of Rachel Ehrenberg
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 7:54 AM
To: Broadcast Mailing List
Subject: [BC] 3,000 Birds Disrupt Radar


I thought I would share this in light of the earlier bird discussion.
See, broadcasters are not the only one who need to look out for our fine
feathered friends.
------------------------------------------------------------
 Large flocks of migrating geese are suspected of causing a breakdown in
 the radar at the St. Louis air traffic control center last Wednesday
 morning. About 7 a.m., radar screens showed about 3,000 blips, which
 the system interpreted as 3,000 aircraft. The Airport Surveillance
 Radar model 9, or ASR-9, became overloaded and crashed, the St. Louis
 Post-Dispatch reported last week. Air traffic controllers in Kansas
 City took over the airspace for about 15 minutes, until St. Louis
 controllers were able to switch to a backup system. Similar flocks of
 birds are believed to have caused radar crashes in ASR-9 systems at
 Kansas City on Nov. 2 and at Boston on Oct. 10. ASR-9 comprises a
 primary antenna that detects when airplanes have entered the airspace,
 and a secondary radar that sends signals to the airplane transponder so
 it can identify the aircraft.

--
http://www.fastmail.fm - Or how I learned to stop worrying and
                          love email again


_______________________________________________
This is the BROADCAST mailing list
To send to the list, email: broadcast at radiolists.net
For sub changes, archives and info on this other lists:
http://www.radiolists.net/