Britain To Set Up Independent Inquiry Into Air Traffic Failure

BRITAIN-AIRLINES-CLOSURE — An aircraft taxis next to the control tower at Heathrow airport in London, December 12, 2014. Flights to and from London were severely disrupted on Friday by a technical failure at England's main air traffic control center that forced authorities to limit access to the country's airspace. Reuters/Peter Nicholls

(Reuters) - Britain will establish an independent inquiry into a technical failure at an air traffic control center which caused widespread disruption to flights in and out of London last week.

The National Air Traffic Service (NATS) and the UK Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement Monday they would appoint a chairman and a number of experts to study the causes and responses, in a bid to try to avoid future incidents.

Hundreds of flights to and from London were disrupted on Friday causing knock-on effects to air travel across Europe, in a technical failure which a senior MP called "simply unacceptable."

It was the second such incident in just over a year to hit the National Air Traffic Service's hub at Swanwick in southern England, one of NATS's two main centres.

Heathrow, London's main airport, is a major hub for international transfers, meaning the disruption was felt far beyond Britain.

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