A software defect was responsible for the air traffic control system failure that triggered widespread travel disruption earlier this month, the UK's National Air Traffic Services (Nats) has confirmed.
The outage resulted in the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights and left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded. Many travellers experienced severe hardship, including sleeping in airport terminals or becoming trapped at overseas destinations.
Major UK airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Glasgow all experienced flight disruptions as a result of the technical failure.
This incident represents the third significant disruption to UK air traffic control in three years. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander subsequently stated that the outage was preventable, and an independent investigation was ordered into the failure.
What caused the outage?
Nats has now identified a software defect as the root cause of the system failure. The government had previously ruled out involvement of a cyber attack. Additionally, the Ministry of Defence denied claims that a military aircraft was responsible for the disruption.
What happens next?
An independent investigation into the outage is underway to establish how such a critical failure occurred and what measures can prevent similar incidents in future operations.
