Radar fault that disrupted flights was isolated event, says minister

A radar-related technical failure that led to hundreds of flights being disrupted on Wednesday was an "isolated event" with "no evidence of malign activity", the transport secretary has said, after summoning the head of the UK air traffic control service to account for the disruption.

- Gwyn Topham

Heidi Alexander said she had met Martin Rolfe, the under-fire chief executive of Nats, to understand what had happened and what could be done to prevent a reoccurrence after more than 150 flights were cancelled and others delayed by the latest glitch.

It is understood that Alexander did not press Rolfe to consider his position, despite fresh calls from Ryanair for him to quit.

Most of the disruption from the brief stoppage came at Heathrow. In total, 84 departures and 71 arrivals had been cancelled by 10pm on Wednesday, with some inbound flights diverted to European cities.

A small number of British Airways flights were cancelled yesterday owing to aircraft and crew being out of position, contributing to at least 16 cancellations to and from Heathrow.