US airspace collapses after copper wire upgrade fails
A bad router upgrade crashed the US air traffic control system and grounded 12,000 flights.
Reported by The Sydney Morning HeraldClaims checked against the source, 21 h ago.
ShareWhy it matters
The incident shows how fragile America's aging air traffic infrastructure is. Routine maintenance can shut down the nation's entire aviation system.
In Australia. No direct effect on Australian aviation, but Australians travelling to or through the US faced major delays and cancellations.
Key facts
- over 1000 every four to five seconds
- Connection attempts
- 12,000
- Flights grounded
- L3Harris
- Contractor
- Sean Duffy
- Transportation Secretary
- A telecom contractor was replacing copper wiring with fiber-optic cables at a remote site.
- A router flooded the national air traffic control system with over 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds.
- The flood overwhelmed the system, causing communications breakdowns with aircraft and knocking out radar feeds.
- US officials shut down the entire airspace for safety.
- About 12,000 flights were cancelled.
- Systems came back online once the work was isolated, with full recovery expected by Sunday.
- Officials ruled out cyberattacks and AI involvement.
