FAA radio outage halts flights in West About 800 planes were in the air at time of breakdown Tuesday, September 14, 2004 Posted: 11:38 PM EDT (0338 GMT) WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A breakdown of a radio system linking air traffic controllers to high-altitude planes over Southern California forced federal officials to halt outgoing flights for three hours Tuesday evening at several airports, including Los Angeles International. Some planes were being allowed to land at affected airports, but departing planes were held on the runways until a failed radio communications system could be repaired at Los Angeles Center, a remote facility in the desert north of the city. The center links air traffic controllers with high-altitude planes. Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Mike Fergus said controllers lost radio communications with aircraft within a 200-mile radius of the facility about 5 p.m. (8 p.m. ET), but takeoffs were allowed to resume by 8 p.m. (11 p.m. ET). The airports affected included at least four in the Los Angeles area -- Los Angeles International, Burbank, Long Beach and Ontario, according to officials at those airfields. Airports at Oakland, California, and Las Vegas, Nevada, were likewise affected. Some incoming flights were diverted to San Francisco International Airport.