On Monday, pilots flying into Denver International Airport experienced a brief communication breakdown with air traffic controllers due to simultaneous failures of radio transmitters. Frank McIntosh of the FAA informed Congress that the main frequency was down for two minutes, during which controllers utilized backup systems, including an emergency frequency, to maintain communication. While some reports exaggerated the incident's duration, the FAA confirmed a 90-second outage. Procedures ensured aircraft remained safely separated, and the FAA is currently investigating the incident amidst ongoing concerns about aviation communications reliability.
Controllers switched to a 121.5 MHz radio frequency... they were able to connect with the aircraft and inform the pilots to switch to a secondary frequency.
The outage lasted "approximately 90 seconds"... when both transmitters that cover a segment of airspace went down.
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