<B> ATC Systems Pass Y2K Test With Flying Colors</B>
By Barbara Cook
<I>Washington</I> - "All systems were successfully transitioned in a routine and uneventful manner," FAA administrator Jane Garvey told reporters following an analysis of the agency's April 10 high-profile air traffic control test of its Y2K-compliant software in Denver.
After months of refuting claims that the agency was lagging in its Y2K repairs, Garvey clearly relished the opportunity to host a briefing to praise the FAA employees who made the successful test possible.
It was significant that the test at Denver International Airport was live, Garvey said, because it demonstrated that the repaired systems were able to function correctly in a dynamic environment with unpredictable variables. One of those variables, she noted, was strong wind at the time of the test.
The test results, which still must be verified by DOT's Inspector General and the General Accounting Office, build "a level of confidence" that FAA's Y2K fixes are working, Garvey said. She underscored, however, that "a great deal of work" remains to be done "to make sure we haven't missed anything," including checking on the Y2K readiness of the nations' airports.
FAA's Y2K program director Ray Long joined Garvey in praising agency employees for their work, as well as United Airlines and MCI, which also participated in the Denver test.
Long emphasized that while the test took place at FAA's Denver Tracon, or central radar facility, it actually was a national test because it involved systems that are located at each of FAA's 20 centers throughout the country.
During the four-hour test, the air traffic systems at Colorado Springs, Denver, Grand Junction and Longmont, Colo., were split, with one side handling aircraft as usual and the other turning to the testing.
On the test side, system clocks were forwarded to New Year's Eve 1999 and rolled over to a simulated Jan. 1. The recorded data from both systems is virtually identical, officials reported.
Systems and procedures involved in the test were:
<ul><li>Air traffic control systems at Denver International's tower, the Denver Tracon, the Colorado Springs Tracon, the Grand Junction tower and the Longmont, Colo., en route center
<li>Those used in all aspects of flight, including those for processing radar, weather and flight plan data
<li>The plotting of the movement of United Airlines Flight 2778, which landed at Denver during the test. Data on Flight 2778 from the live and test systems at the Denver Tracon and the en route center at Longmont are identical.
<li>The processing of 453 flight plans by the en route center at Longmont
<li>The tracking of 51 aircraft by the Denver Tracon during the duration of the test. </ul>
Long, who recently released figures showing that 88 percent of FAA's computer systems are now Y2K compliant, said a total of 198 FAA employees participated in the test. The agency said it will achieve full compliance by June 30.