Suryaa Now International News Desk: A single network router malfunction caused the most significant disruption to United States aviation since the September 11, 2001, attacks. Officials stated that a technical error occurred during a routine network upgrade performed by L3Harris Technologies, a telecommunications contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The incident resulted in a complete halt of nationwide flight operations for approximately five hours.
The disruption led to the cancellation of 9,200 flights and delays for 7,500 flights on Friday. On Saturday, more than 6,150 flights were cancelled. According to US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and FAA Chief Brian Bedford, L3Harris was replacing copper cables with fiber-optic connections. During this process, a new router installed at a remote center experienced a data overload, sending inconsistent data packets into the air traffic control system.
This impacted communication systems at 17 of the country's 22 major en-route centers. Issues included interruptions in voice communication between pilots and controllers and flashing radar screens. As a precautionary measure, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop.
The White House held an emergency meeting in the Situation Room to investigate whether the incident involved a foreign cyberattack or an artificial intelligence error. Officials confirmed that there was no cyberattack involved. An investigation is ongoing to determine if the L3Harris router hardware was defective or if it was installed incorrectly by staff. The system was stabilized after the problematic connection was removed and the feature was temporarily disabled on over 60 similar routers nationwide.
The impact on airlines was significant. Delta, United, and American Airlines cancelled 25 percent of their Saturday schedules, while JetBlue cancelled 45 percent. Officials indicated that operations were not expected to return to normal until Sunday night due to aircraft and crews being stranded in different locations.
Secretary Sean Duffy has requested 50 billion dollars from Congress to modernize infrastructure, citing reliance on computer systems and routers dating back to 2001-2006. Following the incident, L3Harris shares fell by approximately 4 percent in trading.