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Virus halted airport baggage system
Sixteen of 26 disabled CTX scanner units at the Thai capital's glistening new Suvarnabhumi airport were up and running again Thursday afternoon after airport technicians restored service in the wake of a virus intrusion explained as likely human error in using the technology.
International and domestic air passengers departing Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport Wednesday night encountered baggage-handling problems and related inconveniences due to a breakdown in security scanning equipment.
Senior officials at Airports of Thailand Pcl, Ltd. (AoT) reported that an airport worker had accidentally introduced the virus which closed down the system, but by late Thursday most units were running normally.
Technicians from InVision Inc., the American company which supplied all 26 computer tomography X-ray (CTX) machines installed at Thailand's new showcase air hub, Suvarnabhumi, are on their way to Bangkok to repair 13 CTX machines which failed Wednesday night, a senior official said.
The controversial scanners are at the centre of investigations probing inappropriate expenditures on the part of the former government of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The CTX machines were installed in the eastern wing of the passenger terminal, and when the critical inspection machines failed over 100 military personnel were called in to help carry passenger baggage. The problems also paralysed the conveyor belt system.
Initial investigation found that AoT officials manning the CTX machines had brought other programmes and put them into the scanners, causing a computer virus which affected the server and problems eventually.
Assistant army chief Gen. Saprang Kalayanamitr, also AoT board chairman, said he had ordered concerned officials to identify the cause of the failure and to plan a long-term plan to prevent a similar problem from occurring again in future.
So far there has been no report that passenger bags were misplaced or left behind at the airport after the scanners broke down. (TNA)
Sixteen of 26 disabled CTX scanner units at the Thai capital's glistening new Suvarnabhumi airport were up and running again Thursday afternoon after airport technicians restored service in the wake of a virus intrusion explained as likely human error in using the technology.
International and domestic air passengers departing Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi airport Wednesday night encountered baggage-handling problems and related inconveniences due to a breakdown in security scanning equipment.
Senior officials at Airports of Thailand Pcl, Ltd. (AoT) reported that an airport worker had accidentally introduced the virus which closed down the system, but by late Thursday most units were running normally.
Technicians from InVision Inc., the American company which supplied all 26 computer tomography X-ray (CTX) machines installed at Thailand's new showcase air hub, Suvarnabhumi, are on their way to Bangkok to repair 13 CTX machines which failed Wednesday night, a senior official said.
The controversial scanners are at the centre of investigations probing inappropriate expenditures on the part of the former government of ex-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The CTX machines were installed in the eastern wing of the passenger terminal, and when the critical inspection machines failed over 100 military personnel were called in to help carry passenger baggage. The problems also paralysed the conveyor belt system.
Initial investigation found that AoT officials manning the CTX machines had brought other programmes and put them into the scanners, causing a computer virus which affected the server and problems eventually.
Assistant army chief Gen. Saprang Kalayanamitr, also AoT board chairman, said he had ordered concerned officials to identify the cause of the failure and to plan a long-term plan to prevent a similar problem from occurring again in future.
So far there has been no report that passenger bags were misplaced or left behind at the airport after the scanners broke down. (TNA)
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