Incident: Air Traffic Control System Failure at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport

Published Date: 2018-08-15

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport happened on August 15, 2018 [74581].
System The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport involved a problem with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, as reported by Article 74581. The specific system that failed was: 1. Main communications system between pilots and traffic controllers Therefore, the main communications system was the system that failed in this incident.
Responsible Organization 1. Air Traffic Control Netherlands (LVNL) [74581]
Impacted Organization 1. Pilots and traffic controllers at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport were impacted by the software failure incident [74581].
Software Causes 1. The main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, indicating a software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport [74581].
Non-software Causes 1. The main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, leading to the failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport [Article 74581].
Impacts 1. Flights at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport were temporarily prevented from leaving or arriving, causing delays and disruptions for passengers [Article 74581].
Preventions 1. Regular maintenance and updates to the air traffic control systems could have potentially prevented the software failure incident by ensuring that any vulnerabilities or technical issues are addressed proactively [74581].
Fixes 1. Implementing redundant communication systems to ensure continuity in case of failures [74581]. 2. Conducting a thorough investigation to identify the root cause of the technical problems and addressing them to prevent future occurrences [74581].
References 1. Air Traffic Control Netherlands (LVNL) [74581]

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown (a) The article does not mention any previous incidents of a similar nature happening again within the same organization (LVNL) or with its products and services. Therefore, there is no information available to suggest that this software failure incident has happened again at one_organization. (b) The article does not provide any information indicating that a similar incident has happened before or again at other organizations or with their products and services. Hence, there is no evidence to suggest that this software failure incident has occurred elsewhere at multiple_organization.
Phase (Design/Operation) design (a) The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was related to the design phase. The article mentions that the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, indicating a failure due to contributing factors introduced by system development or updates [74581]. Additionally, the article states that the air traffic control systems had a problem, suggesting issues with the system itself rather than its operation or misuse.
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was within the system. The article mentions that the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, leading to the temporary prevention of flights from leaving or arriving. Air Traffic Control Netherlands (LVNL) later reported that the main communications system had been restored and they were investigating the cause of the problem [74581].
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was related to a problem with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, which suffered technical problems [74581]. This indicates a failure due to non-human actions, as the issue was likely caused by technical glitches or faults in the system itself. (b) The article does not provide specific information about the software failure incident being caused by human actions.
Dimension (Hardware/Software) hardware, software (a) The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was related to a problem with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, which suffered technical problems. This indicates a hardware-related issue as the main communications system is a hardware component [74581]. (b) The software failure incident was also related to the main communications system, which suggests that the contributing factors that originated in software might have played a role in the technical problems experienced by the system [74581].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) non-malicious (a) The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was non-malicious. The article mentions that the problem with the air traffic control systems was due to technical problems in the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers. There is no indication in the article that the failure was caused by malicious intent or actions [74581].
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) unknown The article does not provide specific details to determine whether the software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was due to poor decisions or accidental decisions. The incident was attributed to technical problems with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, and the air traffic control operator was investigating the cause of the problem [74581].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The article does not provide specific information indicating that the software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was due to development incompetence. It mainly mentions technical problems with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, without attributing the cause to incompetence [74581]. (b) The software failure incident at Schiphol Airport appears to be more aligned with an accidental failure. The article mentions that the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, indicating an accidental issue rather than one caused by development incompetence [74581].
Duration temporary The software failure incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was temporary. The article mentions that the problem with the air traffic control systems caused flights to be temporarily prevented from leaving or arriving. Flights were permitted to land using a backup system after a short delay, and within an hour, flights began departing again on a reduced schedule [74581].
Behaviour crash (a) crash: The incident at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport involved a problem with the main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers, which suffered technical problems, leading to a temporary halt in flights departing or arriving. Flights were permitted to land using a backup system after a short delay, and within an hour, flights began departing again on a reduced schedule [74581]. (b) omission: There is no specific mention in the article about the system omitting to perform its intended functions at an instance(s). (c) timing: The article does not indicate that the system performed its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. (d) value: The incident does not mention the system performing its intended functions incorrectly. (e) byzantine: The article does not describe the system behaving erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. (f) other: The behavior of the software failure incident at Schiphol Airport was mainly characterized by a crash, where the system lost its state and temporarily stopped performing its intended functions, leading to delays in flights [74581].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence delay The consequence of the software failure incident reported in Article 74581 was primarily related to delays. The air traffic control systems' technical problems at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport caused delays in flights departing and arriving. Flights were temporarily prevented from leaving or arriving, resulting in dozens of arrivals and departures being delayed. Passengers were urged to check the airport's website for further updates [74581].
Domain transportation The software failure incident reported in Article 74581 is related to the transportation industry. The incident occurred at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, where a problem with the air traffic control systems temporarily prevented flights from leaving or arriving. The main communications system used between pilots and traffic controllers suffered technical problems, leading to delays in flight operations [74581].

Sources

Back to List