Grounded jets and Microsoft outage make some wonder whether AI chaos could leave everything broken
A day of disruption
On Friday, U.S. authorities ordered planes across the country to land, leaving travelers stranded and flights canceled. The ground stop lasted more than four hours, while Microsoft services also failed for many users.
The events came amid other unsettling reports, including a cruise ship overturning in New Orleans after a collision, drones near a U.S. air base in Britain and a bomb found near an Ohio ethanol plant. The combination led some people to wonder whether the incidents were related.
Official causes differ
Administration officials said an upgrade to the national air traffic control system overloaded outdated equipment, creating intermittent gaps in communications and radar. The FAA said air travel was improving by Saturday morning, and Administrator Bryan Bedford expected airline schedules to return to normal by late Sunday.
Microsoft said a problem during an earlier network capacity upgrade surfaced after a recent network change. The company reported that its services were fully restored by Saturday. Both Microsoft and the FAA said they had found no evidence of malicious activity.
Travelers left uncertain
Chuck Amasio, 68, of Rahway, New Jersey, missed his flight from Newark Liberty International Airport and spent the night in a hotel after waiting at the airport. He said the unusual events made him think about how attacks on airspace or power systems could damage the economy.
Maxine Gustafson, a 34-year-old physician assistant from Minneapolis, was at Chicago’s O’Hare airport when the disruptions affected her plans to travel home with colleagues. She wondered whether a cyberattack was involved and said people had little control over such systems.
Tori Perkins, 34, spent Friday night at San Diego International Airport while trying to continue a trip from Hawaii to Florida. At Terminal 2 on Saturday morning, 11 of 62 flights were listed as canceled and 11 as delayed; Perkins said she did not know which accounts to trust.
Key points
- The FAA linked the nationwide ground stop to overloaded equipment and intermittent radar and communication gaps.
- Microsoft said a network capacity issue disrupted its services, which were restored by Saturday.
- The FAA and Microsoft reported no signs of malicious activity behind the disruptions.
- The White House has pushed for $30 billion more to finish upgrading the air traffic system.