Birds May Have Caused Radar System Failures
A several-hour shutdown of radar systems in three Midwestern cities Thursday may have been caused by unseasonably large flocks of migrating birds, aviation officials said Friday.
No disruptions or delays to air traffic were caused by the failures in Omaha, Des Moines, and Kansas City, which used backup radar coverage, an FAA spokeswoman said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the shutdown but officials say they suspect migrating birds were responsible.
Some radar systems are susceptible to shutting down if they track a maximum of 700 targets at a time, the spokeswoman said.
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