Japan small plane data system shuts down- official

TOKYO, Jan 1 (Reuters) - A Japanese computer system that collates flight and weather information for small planes and helicopters has stopped functioning, a Transport Ministry official said on Saturday.

He said that the system is used by private pilots to log their flight plans using personal computers and to receive weather updates.

The problems are not affecting the air traffic control systems in Japan, he said.

The problem emerged at 1.12 a.m. on Saturday (1612 GMT Friday), and the cause is under investigation. The official said there was no indication yet that the problem was Y2K related.

He said the system is used by five airports, Tokyo's Haneda, Nagoya, Itami Airport in Osaka, Fukuoka, and Shinchitose on the northern island of Hokkaido.

The official said there were no reports of any accidents

related to the computer malfunction.

As of 9:30 a.m. (0130 GMT), the system had not been restored.

19:32 12-31-99

-- streamer (streamer@aol.com), December 31, 1999

Answers

Uh-oh. Things are getting interesting now. Gotta love the Japanese, they brought us Pokemon and now this.

-- Jess (alisaunde@aol.com), December 31, 1999.

Looks like the Shinchitose may be hitting the fan. Here's hoping the Japanese are not Fukuoka'd!!!!

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 31, 1999.

I'm not a pilot, but this system in Japan sounds rather similar to the one that the FAA patched at "the eleventh hour". Anyone have more detailed knowledge of what the FAA fixed yesterday?

-- DeeEmBee (macbeth1@pacbell.net), December 31, 1999.

"I'm not a pilot, but this system in Japan sounds rather similar to the one that the FAA patched at "the eleventh hour"."

No, it doesn't sound "rather similar" to the one that the FAA patched. Simple reason for that - it's not in the least bit similar.

The FAA patch had to do with a ten-second window of vulnerability IF there was a failure of the relevant computer system. The system might restore data from the wrong machine (of two possibiles) during those ten seconds IF there were to be a failure. No big deal.

The Japanese system is one that allows pilots to file flight plans using their own PC or to get weather update, nothing at all to do with active flight control as with the FAA case (which in itself wasn't probably worth spending the money to fix).

READ. THINK. When you jerk your knee you keep hitting your head.

-- FuBar (fubar@foo.bar), December 31, 1999.