The Federal Aviation Administration is still probing the cause of a major computer glitch which grounded planes for hours and caused numerous delays, but says a software upgrade is likely responsible.
The systems outage at an air traffic control facility in Leesburg, Virginia resulted in the cancelation of more than 400 flights.
The glitch was caused by ‘technical issues’ and ‘has nothing to do with an accident or hacking,’ the FAA said.
It is thought the mishap occurred with an upgrade of the En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) computer system which records flight and surveillance data for air traffic controllers.
Delays were felt at numerous airports in the East including Washington Dulles, Baltimore, New York’s La Guardia and JFK, and Philadelphia.
Systems were back up and running after several hours although the ripple effect of delayed and cancelled flights could impact flyers until early Monday, aviation officials said.
