A telecommunication glitch which became evident in the Federal Aviation Administration software infrastructure in Salt Lake City, threw flights and passengers into confusion for several hours today. The breakdown which began at around 5:10 am was resolved around 9:00 am, but it was enough to cause significant delays and cancellations on the part of several airlines, leaving many travelers stranded.
USATODAY: The communication system between numerous air-traffic computers ground to a halt at 5:10 a.m., said FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitaliere. That failure forced airlines and controllers to manually enter information about each aircraft’s flight plan.
It also cut off communication between many different FAA computers, which normally coordinate flight delays to minimize the time that jets must wait, Spitaliere said.
