On August 26, a front in the Caribbean developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and ultimately became Tropical Storm Ida. Amid favorable conditions, Ida intensified into a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph and made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on August 29, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
Each day leading up to landfall, L3Harris Technologies' Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Telecommunications Infrastructure (FTI) Program's Contingency Disaster Recovery (CDR) team reviewed the storm's projected path and its increasing strength. They prepped for a potential U.S. landfall in the gulf coast, monitoring what service sites for the FAA could be in the path of the storm. The FAA reached out to L3Harris' FTI District Service Manager and advised they would be going to Readiness Level Charlie across the gulf states from Beaumont, Texas to Mobile, Alabama. This meant they would initiate preparatory actions, such as deploying emergency repair crews, in advance of the potential natural disaster.
The FTI CDR team closely communicated with the FAA's National Airspace System (NAS) Security and Enterprise Operations (NASEO) team and our telecommunication partners to provide situational awareness updates, emphasize the importance of swift facility restoration in the event the storm caused damage, and to identify what critical services would need priority restoration. The FAA requested L3Harris deploy and forward stage mobile satellite assets to Atlanta, Georgia and Shreveport, Louisiana in preparation for service recovery efforts. The FTI CDR team also ensured any L3Harris employees in the path of the storm were prepared and safe.
Based on the projected track, the FTI CDR team identified 81 FAA sites and 342 services likely to be impacted. As the storm made landfall, the FTI Primary Network Operations Control Center (PNOCC) in Melbourne, Florida began to identify storm-related service outages as the telecommunications infrastructure became inundated. Receiving a request for assistance from the FAA NASEO team, FTI Operations responded immediately and the FTI Satellite Communications (FTI-SAT) engineering team was sent to the impacted areas. The first FTI-SAT team dispatched to Shreveport, Louisiana where they met with the FAA Disaster team to assess facility service outages and discuss priority service restorations.
Two days after landfall, initial damage assessments identified over 250 services in Louisiana impacted by Hurricane Ida. Many FAA sites had sustained power loss and telecommunication infrastructure damage, with some sites having major damage and no expectation for a rapid recovery.
To restore vital services for the NAS, L3Harris' FTI-SAT engineers quickly responded and coordinated with the satellite network provider, SES, and the ground receiving partner, UltiSat to assess the system availability and deploy the emergency FTI-SAT assets. The FAA NASEO team identified additional critical service restoration areas and requested a second satellite communications system to support Remote Transmitter/Receiver (RTR) services in Galliano, Louisiana. The team dispatched and restored services to RTR services in Houston and Galliano using temporary and long-term satellite communications solutions to maintain operations while damage to facilities could be addressed.
In the face of these types of disasters, it's critical that L3Harris works quickly to ensure the continuity of FTI Services to ensure the safety and security of our skies, explained Hunt Fitch, FTI-SAT Engineer. Our response is more than just helping the FAA customer; it's helping impacted communities. As soon as we can reestablish communications, air traffic can resume which allows more relief into these areas. Our work permits critical disaster relief to begin in a timely manner.
Of the more than 200 services impacted by Hurricane Ida, only a small percentage remain out of service because of long term power or infrastructure issues. All critical communications were quickly restored and the air traffic in the region resumed normal operations within a week. I would like to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt thank you to the team for the nothing short of incredible efforts they put forth to restore NAS services in the wake of Hurricane Ida, said David Fischer, FAA National Telecommunications Operations Manager. Repeatedly, in times of communication crisis, the L3Harris FTI team has risen to the occasion and excelled.
The tireless dedication of the FTI-SAT team and the numerous hours of the FTI Operations and Management team ensured that our customers could return to normal operations' in the face of disaster. These tremendous efforts paralleled the continuous 24/7 operations of the FTI team as they support over 4000 FAA sites across the country to maintain safe and secure skies.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
02/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
02/07/2026
Standalone processors acknowledged for the innovation and value they bring to Pro AV
Cobalt Digital, a leading designer and manufacturer of signal processing ...
02/07/2026
Synamedia announced today the appointment of Dr Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who has served as CEO for the past six years, will transitio...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia backs audience-led filmmaking with new insight-driven initiativ...
02/07/2026
Screen Australia refines guidelines for Narrative Content Development and Docume...
02/07/2026
Maxon Autograph: Introduction to working with Tables
Simon Ubsdell July 1, 2026
0 Comments
An overview of Autograph's ridiculously powerful tables...
02/07/2026
Boston Conservatory's Soir e Breaks Records to Fund Student Scholarships The event achieved 127 percent of its fundraising goal in an evening celebrating ...
02/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Med Tech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might thin...
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
New AI Assistant, Multi-channel Audio, ARA2 improvements & more
Tracktion's DAW software has just received its latest major update, gaining a selection ...
01/07/2026
Stammering, stuttering, strangulated tones
The Crow Hill Company's latest creation promises to be the most original sound set they've produced to d...
01/07/2026
Exclusive run of limited-edition modelling pedals
Sweetwater and Andertons M...
01/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) is pleased to announce that the ca...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Groundbreaking First Nations Screen Business Accelerator launched through nation...
On August 26, a front in the Caribbean developed into a tropical depression, which organized further and ultimately became Tropical Storm Ida. Amid favorable conditions, Ida intensified into a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of 150 mph and made landfall near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on August 29, the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. 
