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Air Traffic Controllers relied on 30-year old IBM hardware (1996) [pdf]
- collinmanderson 10y ago> Virtually no new parts are available for IBM 9020E systems. Most parts for the 9020E come from small untested stockpiles at various locations or are taken from training computers at the FAA Academy. Disabling or degrading the capability of training devices to keep operational devices on line is definitely a counterproductive, stop-gap measure. Frequently, remanufactured circuit cards, visibly heat scarred after years of component resoldering, arrive as spare parts. There is often no way to test the functionality of components such as these, other than by placing them in service in the live ATC system, which is quite undesirable. Many of these difficulties will persist until the 9020Es are decommissioned. However, efforts to improve the situation include a first-ever 9020E spare parts inventory, and the retention of two decommissioned 9020D computers for spare parts.