Air traffic control chiefs have been criticised by a House of Commons committee over the delayed opening of a £339m computer system.

A report by the Transport Committee will recommend an urgent independent study to see whether the air traffic control computer centre at Swanwick, near Southampton, Hampshire, should now be scrapped.

Problems blamed on computer software

The centre, which will serve England and Wales, is intended to replace both the London Area and Terminal Control Centre at West Drayton, in Middlesex, and one in Manchester.

It was planned a decade ago to increase the number of flights that controllers could handle and should have come into use two years ago. But because of software problems, it will not operate before winter 1999 at the earliest and might not be ready until 2001.

The delays have meant that staff at West Drayton must cope with a constant increase in traffic.

Some experts believe the technology may never work properly. Tony Collins from Computer Weekly magazine said: "One of the classic early warning signs of a computer disaster is where you fail to meet the revised deadlines that you've set because you've had problems.

"In this case they have set new deadlines each time and they have failed to meet those deadlines, yet the committee has been told each time that the problems have been resolved."

'Low morale'

National Air Traffic Services, the arm of the Civil Aviation Authority responsible for the centre, says the independent audit will further delay the opening.

Computer experts gave evidence to the committee that the system should undergo an independent audit and, if found lacking, be scrapped.

MPs also heard evidence of low morale and heavy workloads among controllers. In the report, they blamed transport chiefs for their "astonishing complacency".

Controllers at West Drayton complained that high workloads were reducing safety margins

They also heard of recent errors at busy centres which had been caused by continuous high traffic levels.

The report said the audit should, among other things, find out "whether the increasing demands on the personnel and equipment at West Drayton are such that there is an increased risk of an accident".

According to reports, there are now more than 1.6 million flights a year in UK airspace, a figure expected to rise to nearly two million by 2003.

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