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A preliminary report by National Air Traffic Services (NATS) reveals that a software glitch caused widespread air traffic control system failures on September 8, resulting in over 2,000 flight cancellations and significant passenger disruptions. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an independent review of NATS' findings to investigate why the issue was not detected earlier and to enhance future resilience. While Alexander did not call for changes at NATS or removal of its boss Martin Rolfe, airlines like Ryanair have pushed for such measures following repeated failures.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On September 8, a software defect caused widespread air traffic control chaos across the UK, leading to over 2,000 flight cancellations and affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. The incident was traced back to a small section of coding in the National Airspace System that allocates identification codes for aircraft on radar, which malfunctioned when two requests were processed simultaneously. This issue disrupted flights at major airports like Heathrow and Gatwick, with some travelers left stranded or forced to cancel their trips.
Catie and Phil Allen, for instance, had a holiday in Slovenia canceled after their flight from Luton Airport was grounded; despite receiving a refund from British Airways, they estimate losing over £1,300 due to unused accommodation and excursions. The UK government has ordered an independent review by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to investigate NATS' findings and enhance future resilience against such failures.
Written for “Air Traffic Control Software Glitch” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 11 other(s) covering the same event.
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An air traffic control system failure that led to thousands of flights being cancelled earlier this month was caused by a software glitch, a preliminary report has found.
asserted
report → see → glitch
The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) probe into the chaos on September 8 said it was caused by a 'software defect' in a small part of its systems.
asserted
it → say → systems
The software which experienced issues usually allocates codes to individual aircraft automatically when manual requests are made, NATS said.
asserted
NATS → experience → aircraft
The codes are used to identify flights on radar while they are airborne.
asserted
they → use → radar
But the meltdown, which saw hundreds of thousands of passengers suffer cancellations or nightmare delays, was not caused by any 'incorrect actions', the NATS report added.
asserted
report → see → actions
In response to the prelimnary report, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she had ordered the Civil Aviation Authority to review NATS findings.
asserted
she → say → findings
The Cabinet minister had given Mr Rolfe a week to report back on the reasons for the grounding of more than 2,000 flights, having previously said she did not believe the issue was 'unavoidable'.
She has so far dodged calls by airlines, including Ryanair and WizzAir, for an overhaul of NATS and the removal of Mr Rolfe over repeated failures.
asserted
She → give → failures
Hundreds of thousands of passengers suffered disruption due to the 'technical issue'
Writing in the report, under-fire NATS boss Martin Rolfe said that at this stage he could confirm the incident was not related to a outage in 2023 or a radar issue in July last year.
uncertain
incident → suffer → July
'I can also confirm that it was a software issue and not caused by any incorrect actions by either military or civil operators,' he said.
asserted
he → confirm → operators
Mr Rolfe apologised again for travellers who were affected by the incident, as well for the challenges it caused to the aviation industry.
asserted
it → apologise → industry
Ms Alexander said: 'The disruption we saw last week was completely unacceptable and I know how frustrating it was for passengers, airlines and airports.
asserted
it → say → passengers
I have now received NATS' report and, while I am pleased to see that the safety of passengers was protected, it's clear we need to urgently understand why this issue was not discovered and fixed before it caused chaos.
asserted
it → receive → chaos
I have therefore tasked the CAA with conducting an independent review to check NATS' findings and investigate their investment plans to enhance resilience in the future, along with regulatory accountability.
asserted
I → task → accountability
It is crucial that our national infrastructure is fit for the future, and this government will make sure the aviation sector is as resilient as possible, so passengers can get to where they need to be.'
asserted
they → make → future
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