Indianapolis Center to shut down Saturday night
The Indianapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center will shut down Saturday night (November 11) at 0430Z. An ARTCC manager told AOPA he expects the facility will be "off the air" for four to five hours. During the closure, neighboring facilities will handle IFR flights below 23,000 feet. No flights will be permitted above 23,000. The center computer will not accept IFR flight plans to or from any airports within Indianapolis Center's coverage area during the closure period. However, FSS and the center will attempt to work out a procedure for pilots who need to activate an IFR plan during the closure. Indianapolis Center covers most of Indiana, Ohio, western Pennsylvania, western West Virginia, most of Kentucky, and parts of Tennessee and Illinois. Pilots should check notams for the latest information.
The problem traces back to an electrical power failure Halloween night. The Indianapolis ARTCC went on standby generator power. When the center tried to revert to commercial power, it experienced major failures. The center has been running on generators since then. Center managers are now prepared to try switching back again to commercial power but do not want to risk another system failure while controlling aircraft.
00-4-061x
November 10, 2000
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