Single router blamed for US aviation shutdown

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 14 Nov, 21:31 · Archive

A nearly five-hour shutdown of US air traffic disrupted more than 20,000 flights, possibly caused by a faulty router installed by contractor L3Harris.

A nearly five-hour shutdown of the US aviation system on 13 November disrupted more than 20,000 flights and may have resulted from a single router installed by government contractor L3Harris. L3Harris was conducting routine maintenance to switch telecommunication lines from old copper wire to fibre at least one remote location, with officials suggesting routers in Arkansas and Texas may have been involved.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said on Saturday the FAA's system 'didn't meet the moment' and acknowledged that officials had not yet determined the precise fault. 'We're working to determine whether we had incompetence, meaning was it user error or installer error from L3Harris, or did they install a faulty router? We haven't determined what the fault was,' Duffy said.

L3Harris said it was 'supporting the FAA in its investigation' and noted it has completed more than 70 per cent of the planned conversion from legacy copper wires to fibre-optic systems. The FAA spends $US1 billion annually to maintain its aging copper wire system and has experienced multiple failures in recent years including fibre cuts, accidental file deletion and component failures. Government officials warned the system will fail again until it is properly upgraded.

How it is being reported

• US aviation shutdown blamed on single routerThe problem that caused a nation-wide shutdown of the US aviation system and disrupted thousands of flights may have been the fault of a single router.Perth Now · 14 Nov, 20:56
• US aviation shutdown blamed on single routerThe problem that caused a nation-wide shutdown of the US aviation system and disrupted thousands of flights may have been the fault of a single router.The West Australian · 14 Nov, 20:56

In this story: Federal Aviation Authority · L3Harris · Sean Duffy · United States · Arkansas · Texas

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log