Computer Error Causes Flight Delays

Event Year: 2009 Reliability: Confirmed
Country: United States
Industry Type: Transportation
Description:

A software glitch caused flight delays across the country.  The problem made it impossible for airlines to enter flight plan information into the National Airspace Data Interchange Network (NADIN).  FAA personel entered the information manually, therefore, the additional time needed led to delays. 

According to Paul Takemoto, an FAA spokesman, the NADIN system was not the ultimate system fault.  Tammy Jones, an FAA spokeswoman, said the problem is being attributed to a software configuration problem with a router at the Salt Lake City facility.

Impact:

A software problem caused flight delays across the country.  This was not the first serious problem.  A similar incident occurred in 2008.  See RISI incident no. 169.  The software configuration problem being attributed with a router in Salt Lake City, had been resolved after about 4 hours.