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Nov 19, 2007 8:25 am US/Central

Equipment Failure Causes Delays At DFW Airport

FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― Travelers faced major delays at DFW Airport after an equipment malfunction that affected the east and west air traffic control towers.

Radio communications used by the towers experienced a failure starting at about 7:00 a.m. Monday morning. At that time, the FAA issued a ground stop for all arriving and departing air traffic.

Local news helicopters also reported an inability to communicate with the airport's control towers.

Communications were restored in the east tower about 20 minutes later, allowing some flights to begin taking off again. Equipment for the west tower was repaired later in the morning.

An FAA communication device known as a 'voice switch' has been cited as the source of the failure, according to the FAA. The device allows airport traffic controllers to communicate with the Fort Worth Center's regional traffic controllers, who are responsible for an area that extends out to south Texas, west Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The failure prevented the regional controllers and the airport controllers from handing off flights to each other.

This all comes just as the busy holiday travel week gets underway, with crowds heading to the airport on Thanksgiving vacation.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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© MMVIII, CBS Stations Group of Texas L.P. All Rights Reserved.