A military aircraft entering «spurious» flight data into the air traffic control system has been identified as the cause of the outage that grounded thousands of flights across the UK earlier this week, according to a report. The incident led to more than 2,000 flights being cancelled on Tuesday after the system used by National Air Traffic Services (Nats) shut down for four hours.
Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected by the disruption, which rippled through airports across the country, including Scotland's busiest hubs. The shutdown forced airlines to cancel flights and left travellers stranded, with knock-on delays continuing in the days that followed.
The report indicates that the failure was triggered when a military aircraft transmitted incorrect or «spurious» flight data into the Nats system, causing it to shut down. The exact nature of the data and how it entered the system have not been fully detailed, but the incident has raised questions about the resilience of the UK's air traffic control infrastructure.
The outage occurred just a day after the aviation minister publicly boasted that the system was «well prepared» with «increased resilience», according to critics who have since ridiculed the claim. The timing has intensified scrutiny of the government's handling of aviation infrastructure and its preparedness for such failures.
Passengers affected by the cancellations have been told they are unlikely to be due compensation, adding to frustration among travellers. The disruption affected flights at major airports across the UK, with Scotland's busiest airports among those hit by cancellations and delays.
National Air Traffic Services has not yet issued a full statement on the reported cause, but the incident has prompted calls for a thorough investigation into how a single military aircraft's data could bring the system to a standstill. The four-hour shutdown represents one of the most significant air traffic control failures in recent UK history.
The event highlights the interconnected nature of modern aviation systems, where a single erroneous data input can have widespread consequences. As airlines and airports work to recover from the disruption, attention is turning to what measures will be taken to prevent a similar outage in the future.