Vietnam reviews air traffic infrastructure after US flight grounding

Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM) has begun reviewing its technical infrastructure and strengthened backup arrangements following a nationwide halt to aircraft departures in the United States. The corporation said the measures aim to reduce the likelihood of a similar disruption.

Reuters reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration ordered the halt after a communications problem affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Departures were allowed to resume the same day, but cancellations and delays involving thousands of flights continued to disrupt aviation in several countries.

VATM said backup infrastructure must function independently: sharing cables, equipment or transmission facilities with primary systems could leave both vulnerable to one failure. It is developing several layers of backup connectivity using fibre-optic links and dedicated satellite-based very small aperture terminal communications, while regularly checking that transmission routes remain separate.

The corporation is also developing a digital network operations centre to identify abnormal signals and monitor data quality across communications links and radar infrastructure. VATM warned that equipment can appear to function normally while sending incorrect or corrupted information, creating safety risks even without a complete outage.

Its equipment investment includes replacing 10 radar systems with newer technology. VATM has also upgraded the Ho Chi Minh City Area and Approach Control Center following more than 20 years of service and continued modernisation work in Hanoi.

VATM said its critical control systems have no connection to the public Internet, while dedicated firewalls strictly govern network access. Software, configuration and network changes must undergo risk assessments and parallel testing, with procedures available to reverse changes if problems occur.

The corporation also plans further research into satellite-based aircraft surveillance and is exploring artificial intelligence for predictive maintenance and managing air traffic flows.