Top-selling Ta Nea daily said
the balloon knocked out the "heart" of the Athens flight information
region (FIR) radar that oversees Greek airspace.
Officials at Greece's civil
aviation authority and the electricity distribution network confirmed the
problem but declined to comment on the report.
The civil aviation authority
YPA said the radar controlling the Athens and Macedonia region had sustained a "loss
of image" around midday on Saturday for over an hour due to an electrical
failure that followed a power outage.
And a source at state
electricity distributors DEDIE said that an "aluminised" helium
balloon had caused a 13-minute power failure in the area near YPA's
headquarters in southern Athens, some 40 minutes before the radar shutdown.
YPA insisted that aviation
safety was not impaired for the duration of the power failure though delays in
takeoff and landings were caused.
"Traffic controllers here
remained in radio communication with the aircraft and radar remained
operational at Athens International Airport and regional airports," a
civil aviation source told AFP.
A committee was formed to
investigate the causes of the malfunction.
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