Chicago ARTCC

 (1962-Active) - One of 22 Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC)s in the United States. Established in 1962 near Aurora, Kane County, Illinois. Assigned an FAA ID of ZAU. Active FAA Air Traffic Control Center. Also known as Chicago Center.

History
The Chicago ARTCC (ZAU) was first established in the late 1950s at Midway Airport. The Chicago ARTCC is currently located at 619 West Indian Trail Road, Aurora, Illinois. Construction on the present location began circa 1958 and it was commissioned in 1962. The Chicago Center covers a part of the FAA's Central service area.

Within Chicago Center, there are 16 underlying approach control facilities. The center’s 8 areas of specialization are comprised of 23 high altitude sectors and 24 low altitude sectors. It also has a Traffic Management Unit (TMU) located on the operational floor with the 8 areas. The TMU has a direct link to the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC), commonly known as the ‘Command Center’. The Command Center manages the flow of traffic throughout the National Airspace System (NAS).

Outage
On 26 Sep 2014, a fire was deliberately set in the basement of the Chicago Center that damaged computer, communications and infrastructure facilities causing the center to evacuated and non-functional. The center then shifted operations to nearby Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) facilities which were designed for shorter range and lower altitude operation. When this mode of operation proved to be sub-optimal, operations were removed to adjacent centers by moving Chicago Center controllers after controller positions were hastily reconfigured to display Chicago Center airspace and duplicate communications channels. The Chicago Center Aurora facility did not come back online until 13 Oct 2014. The arsonist entered a guilty plea in federal court in May of 2015, and in September 2015 received a prison term of only 12 1/2 years.

This incident highlighted the difficulties of restoring a failed facility that has a unique configuration that depends on localized hardware, software, and personal skills.

Current Status
Active FAA facility in Aurora, Kane County, Illinois.

See Also:
 * FAA Air Route Traffic Control Centers
 * JSS and FAA Radar Sites

Sources:
 * Chicago ARTCC Welcome Guide

Links:
 * Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZAU)
 * Wikipedia - Chicago ARTCC