Computer glitch strands 10,000 air passengers

 

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By Matthew Sparkes

Posted on 26 Sep 2008 at 09:21

A computer glitch has stranded more than 10,000 passengers by forcing the cancellation of at least 88 flights from Heathrow and Gatwick Airports.

British Airways cancelled "dozens" of flights, while budget airline Easyjet made 53 cancellations following the problems at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) centre which tracks air traffic over the UK and North Atlantic Ocean.

The chaos was caused by a failure of computer systems tracking flights above 24,000 feet in the south-east of England, prompting staff to revert to manual tracking methods and increasing the spacing between aircraft.

"NATS handles nearly 2.5m flights a year and our systems are incredibly resilient. We take every step to avoid any problems but are always aware, that in maintaining and updating highly complex systems, we can experience difficulties," says Ian Hall, NATS' director of operational performance, who denies that passenger safety was compromised at any point.

The problem is now resolved, but delays are expected to continue today, as the backlog of passengers and flights is rearranged, and aircraft are brought back from the airports they were diverted to.