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Unknown defect grounded 2,000 UK flights
A millisecond software glitch in UK air traffic control corrupted flight data, forcing a nationwide shutdown that stranded three hundred thousand passengers for two days.
In brief
A millisecond software glitch in UK air traffic control corrupted flight data, forcing a nationwide shutdown that stranded three hundred thousand passengers for two days. A corrupted squawk code in UK air traffic control systems grounded two thousand one hundred sixty three flights and affected three hundred thousand…
Glitch halts UK airspace
The UK's National Air Traffic Services announced a glitch in its flight processing system on the morning of September eighth, forcing the National Airspace System to restart.
Corrupted code in milliseconds
A flight manually requested a squawk code. During processing, a higher priority activity paused the request. When processing resumed, the generated squawk was corrupted, all within the space of a millisecond.
“space of a millisecond”
What squawk codes do
Squawk codes track and identify aircraft during flight plans, allowing air traffic controllers to monitor altitude, speed, direction, and flight progress across the UK.
Severity hidden for hours
The severity of the issue was only discovered two and a half hours after the glitch occurred. Flight restrictions were put in place for around six hours across the UK.
Scale of the disruption
Two thousand one hundred sixty three flights were affected by the restrictions. Three hundred thousand passengers were impacted across airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester.
Chaos lasted two days
While the initial glitch was fixed within six hours, the subsequent disruption across the UK lasted over two days, leaving hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded waiting for rescheduled flights.
Government demands answers
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander called the disruption completely unacceptable and tasked the Civil Aviation Authority with conducting an independent review of NATS' findings and investment plans.
“completely unacceptable”
NATS apologises, defends safety
Martin Rolfe, Chief Executive of NATS, apologised sincerely to everyone affected and stated that at no point last week was safety in question, though the service was devastated when operations went wrong.
“At no point last week was safety in question.”
Passengers denied compensation
Due to extraordinary circumstances, almost all affected passengers will not receive compensation. The Civil Aviation Authority says they were entitled to rescheduled flights or refunds, plus care and assistance from airlines.
The key point
A corrupted squawk code in UK air traffic control systems grounded two thousand one hundred sixty three flights and affected three hundred thousand passengers across major airports on September eighth.
