DENVER — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is admitting to a communication outage – first reported by Denver7 Investigates — that impacted as many as 20 pilots flying into the Denver International Airport on Monday afternoon, making them unable to speak with air traffic controllers, according to multiple sources.
This acknowledgment came less than 24-hours after Denver7's Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski confirmed through several sources that there were multiple radio transmitter outages at Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in Longmont.
Denver7 Investigates
Up to 20 pilots near Denver airport lose contact with air traffic control Monday
Shortly after the Denver7 report, on Thursday morning during a hearing for the House Committee on Transportation, Deputy Chief Operating Officer Frank McIntosh of the Air Traffic Organization was pressed on the issue by U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, asking "if that reporting is actually accurate."
McIntosh responded by saying in-part, "Some of it, we feel, is accurate, but I don't think the severity of it was captured correctly." McIntosh revealed there was a loss of one of the frequencies, and controllers utilized a backup frequency, which then failed as well.
"When the backup went down — and it went down for approximately two minutes — the controller recovered via the emergency procedures that they have," McIntosh said.
Watch Denver7 Investigates' follow-up story from Thursday evening in the video below.
However, that information conflicts with some of what Denver7's sources have shared, claiming the five frequencies went down, forcing air traffic controllers to use an emergency frequency, the sixth and final frequency available to communicate with planes. Multiple sources also report the outage was closer to five or six minutes.
"Obviously, regardless of the time, anytime there's these outages which are happening now, of course more regularly, it's very concerning," Rep. Garcia responded.
The FAA released the following statement to Denver7 Investigates:
"Part of the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) experienced a loss of communications for approximately 90 seconds around 1:50 p.m. local time on Monday, May 12, when both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down. Controllers used another frequency to relay instructions to pilots. Aircraft remained safely separated and there were no impacts to operations. The FAA is investigating."
"They're definitely trying to explain it away," said retired air traffic controller Dave Riley, reacting to the FAA's statement.
Riley worked as an air traffic controller for more than three decades, including 15 years in Denver. Denver7 Investigates also spoke with him for our Wednesday story.
"It doesn't really matter how long the radios were out," he said. "It just speaks to the fact that the radio communication was lost."
Denver7 Chief Investigator Kovaleski asked the FAA multiple follow-up questions to hold them accountable, but their only answer was: "Both primary frequencies have been back in service since Tuesday."
Our questions, which we heard echoed in the community, included the following:
- Does that 90-seconds cover the period from the start of the outage until the last pilot/plane in the line of descent into Denver was informed and communication was re-established?
- What was the cause of the two transmitters (four main channels) going out on Monday?
- When did the two transmitters go offline and how long were they offline?
- Are the two transmitters now back online?
- Has the facility or the FAA questioned any employees trying to determine our source or sources?
- Why did the FAA or the Longmont Center elect not to report or acknowledge this outage to the public until it was reported by Denver7 Investigates on Wednesday?
- Have there been any other transmitter outages at the Longmont Center in the past two years? If yes, please dates and reason for the outage(s)
- Can you provide copies of the recordings from frequencies 120.57, 118.47 and 121.50 for 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the event on Monday.
- Please provide a list of the call signs and type of aircraft on 120.57 at the time of the outage.
- Was there training in progress on this sector at the time of the outage?
"I think it's just becoming so commonplace in the agency with these communication issues, and equipment issues as a whole, that they don't feel the importance to... respond to press inquiries about equipment going out because it just happens so often," said Riley, when asked why the FAA did not publicize the outage prior to Denver7's report.
The Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center, which is in Longmont, in part ensures that aircraft have adequate spacing up in the sky as they approach their destination.
The center serves a large region in nine states, including Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Watch our Wednesday report in the video below, where Denver7 Chief Investigator Tony Kovaleski spoke with a retired air traffic controller about the risks of incidents like this.
