Authorities state a technical failure that saw hundreds of flights postponed and canceled throughout the U.K. was triggered by issues in some flight information got by Britain’s nationwide air traffic controllers and was not a cyberattack
BySYLVIA HUI Associated Press
Passengers are seen at Belfast International Airport, in Belfast, Ireland, Monday, Aug. 28,2023 Britain’s air traffic control system states it is experiencing a “technical problem” that might hold-up flights on Monday, the end of a vacation weekend and a hectic day for air travel. (Liam McBurney/PA through AP)
The Associated Press
LONDON — A technical failure that saw hundreds of flights postponed and canceled throughout the U.K. was triggered by issues in some flight information got by Britain’s nationwide air traffic controllers and was not a cyberattack, authorities stated Tuesday.
The breakdown, which hit on a late-summer vacation Monday that is one of the busiest days of the year for air travel, saw thousands of tourists stranded at airports. Transport Secretary Mark Harper stated it was the worst occurrence of its kind in nearly a years and it would take days to “get individuals back to where they must be.”
The National Air Traffic Services stated preliminary examinations revealed that the issue “relates to some of the flight information we gotten.” It offered no particular info on what triggered the difficulty.
“Our systems, both main and the back-ups, reacted by suspending automated processi