Narrative:

Lex airport traffic control tower (ATCT) lost the modem link to ZID's computer; our shout lines and our commercial phone lines. We could not receive flight plan information or coordinate with any adjacent facilities. A similar occurrence happened [last month] when an airport telephone company room lost power. Lex ATCT was willing to operate in a limited capacity utilizing our facility cell phone. The number to directly access the controllers (recorded line); given to us by ZID; did not work. Subsequent testing later found the number works.why does lex not have an operating redundant system concerning our incoming phone lines? There were no delays reported with this outage. There were significant delays during the [previous] outage. Do we even have a redundant system in place for our incoming phone lines?have airways facilities check our system regarding our incoming phone lines. Repair/replace/install the system to make sure we have a backup to our existing equipment to provide uninterrupted service at lex.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: LEX Tower Controller reported landline outages that occurred on two different dates. Reporter wanted to know why there is not a redundant system concerning the phone lines.

Narrative: LEX Airport Traffic Control Tower (ATCT) lost the modem link to ZID's computer; our shout lines and our commercial phone lines. We could not receive flight plan information or coordinate with any adjacent facilities. A similar occurrence happened [last month] when an airport TELCO room lost power. LEX ATCT was willing to operate in a limited capacity utilizing our facility cell phone. The number to directly access the controllers (recorded line); given to us by ZID; did not work. Subsequent testing later found the number works.Why does LEX not have an operating redundant system concerning our incoming phone lines? There were no delays reported with this outage. There were significant delays during the [previous] outage. Do we even have a redundant system in place for our incoming phone lines?Have airways facilities check our system regarding our incoming phone lines. Repair/replace/install the system to make sure we have a backup to our existing equipment to provide uninterrupted service at LEX.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.