19 November 2009 - 16H33  

US computer glitch causes major flight delays
Planes wait at the Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. The US Federal Aviation Administration said a glitch in a computer system that pilots use to file flight plans is causing major air travel delays.
Planes wait at the Hartsfield Jackson Airport in Atlanta, Georgia. The US Federal Aviation Administration said a glitch in a computer system that pilots use to file flight plans is causing major air travel delays.

AFP - A glitch in a computer system in Atlanta, Georgia that pilots use to file flight plans is causing major air travel delays, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration.

"It's a system-wide problem and it's a problem getting looked at right now," FAA spokeswoman Diane Spitalieri told AFP. "It's slowing down the system significantly."

She said the flight delays would increase if the problem does not get resolved quickly, as pilots were now forced to file their flight plans manually.

The system malfunction was affecting flights across the eastern United States.

The affected computer system appeared to be the National Airspace Data Interchange Network.

A malfunction of that system in August 2008 delayed hundreds of flights in the eastern part of the country, causing the FAA to shift processing to a backup location in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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