BOSTON (AP) - Logan International Airport controllers guided arriving planes Sunday using a composite radar system from three regional airports, one day after a wind storm knocked out its central antenna.
Delays and cancellations at the country's ninth busiest airport were felt nationwide over the Easter holiday weekend, a busy travel time as families gather for celebrations and students return from spring break.
''I wish it was happening last weekend, or next weekend. But there's really no ideal time,'' said Bart Bartanowicz, New England regional administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration
New radar equipment from a supply center in Oklahoma City arrived at Logan Sunday, officials said. A team of five technicians was traveling with the heavy equipment, which could take several days to assemble and test, Bartanowicz said.
Until the new radar is ready, Logan was using a triangular ''composite'' system of radar from Truro, on Cape Cod; Cummington, in western Massachusetts near the Berkshire Mountains; and Providence, R.I.
The antenna damage - plus rainy and windy weather - caused 210 cancellations Saturday and 130 by noon on Sunday.
''We were supposed to be home by now,'' said Abby Lang, who came to Boston with her aunt to celebrate her 16th birthday. The Langs' flight home to Washington, D.C., was routed to New Hampshire and delayed four hours.
---
On the Net:
http://www.massport.com (Site for Massport, operator of Logan)
