The cancellation of 2 thousand flights in the UK led to a software error
The large-scale failure of British airports, which occurred on 8-9 September, was caused by a rare software error, and not by a military aircraft transmitting incorrect data, as previously assumed. Such conclusions are contained in the report on the results of a preliminary inspection conducted by the National Air Traffic Management Service (NATS).
The large-scale failure of British airports, which occurred on 8-9 September, was caused by a rare software error, and not by a military aircraft transmitting incorrect data, as previously assumed. Such conclusions are contained in the report on the results of a preliminary inspection conducted by the National Air Traffic Management Service (NATS).
As noted in the report, a software error occurred when the main computer flight data processing system performed two tasks simultaneously. The system handled one aircraft code request when a request came from another higher priority vessel. The system temporarily paused the first request and engaged in the second. And when I tried to go back to the first one, I couldn't restore it properly because of a hidden defect in the code. According to NATS, the failure would not have occurred if the second request had come just a millisecond earlier or later.
The 15 largest airports in the UK went down on 8 September. As a result, more than 2 thousand flights were canceled or delayed, according to various estimates, from 300,000 to 500,000 passengers were affected (Ryanair alone has about 150,000). Restoration of air traffic took several days. Earlier, a number of British media published information that the failure could be caused by a military aircraft. The UK Civil Aviation Authority is also investigating.
Alena Miklashevskaya
