Flight chaos for hundreds of thousands was caused in ‘millisecond’ by software error
Summary
A software error in the UK air traffic control system caused a six-hour outage last week, which disrupted hundreds of thousands of flights and passengers. The problem happened very quickly—within a millisecond—and officials are now investigating why it was not found and fixed sooner.Key Facts
- The error corrupted flight data in a millisecond during a process that assigned identification codes to aircraft.
- The outage started in the London area and then affected flights across the UK and beyond.
- The disruption lasted six hours while the system was restarted, and travel delays took over two days to clear.
- The National Air Traffic Services (Nats) reported the problem and said a temporary solution is in place while a permanent fix is tested.
- The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to investigate Nats' report and their future plans.
- This was the third major air traffic control failure in the UK since summer 2023.
- Airlines called for the dismissal of Martin Rolfe, Nats’ CEO, after this latest failure.
- Safety was not compromised at any time during the outage.
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