Nearly all of Southern California's airports were shut down, and five incidents where aircraft broke separation guidelines were reported. In one case, a pilot had to take evasive action.
The newspaper said that a Microsoft-based replacement for an older Unix system needed to be reset every thirty days 'to prevent data overload', as a result of problems found when the system was first rolled out. However, a technician failed to perform the reset at the right time, and an internal clock within the system subsequently shut it down. A back-up system also failed.
Richard Riggs, an advisor to the technicians union, said the FAA - the American aviation regulator -- had been planning to fix the program for some time. "They should have done it before they fielded the system," he said. To prevent a reoccurrence of the problem before the software glitch is fixed, Laura Brown, an FAA spokeswoman, said the agency plans to install a system that would issue a warning well before shutdown.
Microsoft UK was not immediately able to comment.
ZDNet UK's Rupert Goodwins reported from London. For more coverage from ZDNet UK, click here.
The FAA are criminally negligent in using such a buggy system. What happens if there is a mid-air collision as a result. Sue Microsoft ???