A major IT outage has led to a global ground stop for several US airlines, including American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and United Airlines.
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented the halt early Friday morning, instructing pilots to remain airborne and preventing planes on the ground from taking off.
The disruption extends beyond air travel, affecting services worldwide. The NHS, Sky News, and British rail operators are among those experiencing significant issues linked to malfunctioning cybersecurity software. Experts caution that the disruption may persist for several days.
Passengers worldwide are facing delays and check-in problems, with reports from locations including Manchester, Melbourne, and major global airlines such as Virgin.
New York Times reporter Jordyn Holman described being stranded at Seoul Airport, where a Delta pilot attributed the issue to a Microsoft platform.
The US government has warned that 911 emergency services are also impacted in several states, advising the public to contact local police or fire departments directly.
The primary issue appears to be crashes related to Microsoft’s Windows operating system, with users encountering the ‘blue screen of death’. Microsoft’s cloud service, widely used by businesses, was also down but is reported to have been resolved.
The chaos is linked to cybersecurity software from Texas-based CrowdStrike.
The company acknowledged issues with Windows crashes due to a problematic update and provided a four-step solution involving Windows’ ‘Safe Mode’ to remove the faulty software component.
Cybersecurity expert Professor Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey explained that the problem stems from a corrupted update of CrowdStrike Falcon, a tool used for network security. The issue requires manual intervention on each affected PC, leading to anticipated prolonged disruption.
American Airlines confirmed it is working with CrowdStrike to resolve the issue and apologized to passengers for the inconvenience. Bath University’s James Davenport expressed hope that the disruption may be resolved within a day or two, depending on individual company responses.
A UK government security source clarified that the incident is not being treated as a cyber attack.
