State agencies investigate cable cut that snarled Northwest

ST. PAUL (AP) -- Two state agencies are investigating an accidental cable break that knocked out a vital link in Northwest Airlines' computer network and forced the cancelation or delay of hundreds of flights worldwide.

The break happened Tuesday when contractors for McLeod USA, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based telecommunications company, cut through two U S West fiber-optic cables in Eagan that link Northwest's mainframe computers to airport facilities globally. U S West has a backup arrangement for Northwest, but said it failed because of the extensive cable damage.

The state Commerce Department said Wednesday it will investigate ''quality of service'' issues involved in the telephone service disruption. The Department of Public Safety said it will investigate possible violations of the state's ''call before you dig'' law that is designed to prevent cable and pipeline damage.

With flight operations back to normal Wednesday, Northwest said it hasn't decided what it might do to recover the costs of the outage.

Airline spokeswoman Kathy Peach said the airline has not yet calculated the cost of the mishap, which forced it to cancel more than 130 flights.