Flight ‘chaos’ this month caused by ‘software defect’ – report

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Shead, R. (2026, September 18). Flight ‘chaos’ this month caused by ‘software defect’ – report. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/nats-heidi-alexander-gatwick-airport-transport-secretary-government-b1297512.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-18 · by Rosie Shead

Quick Summary

A software defect in aircraft code allocation led to over 2,000 flight cancellations on September 8, affecting hundreds of thousands of travelers through major UK airports like Heathrow and Gatwick. National Air Traffic Services (Nats) released a report stating the issue was not due to human error but confirmed it as a software problem unrelated to previous outages in 2023. The Civil Aviation Authority is conducting an independent review to investigate Nats’ findings and future resilience plans, expected within six months.

Written by AI on 2026-09-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS) caused over 2,000 flight cancellations and widespread disruption across British airports on September 8, 2026, due to a millisecond software defect. The glitch affected hundreds of thousands of passengers and led to an estimated loss of millions for airlines as they refunded customers and rescheduled flights. This incident follows two previous major outages in the UK since summer 2023, increasing pressure on NATS CEO Martin Rolfe who faces calls to resign. Airlines like Ryanair are demanding action from regulators, while transport minister Heidi Alexander ordered an independent review by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to investigate the issue further.

Written for “Air Traffic Control Software Glitch Causes Chaos” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 23 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Air Traffic Control Software Glitch Causes Chaos

Technology · 24 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Flight disruption ‘not caused by any incorrect actions’ – report Same event

Evening Standard

Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 65/100

Flight disruption ‘not caused by any incorrect actions’ – report Same event

Evening Standard

Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 65/100

Flight disruption ‘not caused by any incorrect actions’ – report Same event

Evening Standard

Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 65/100

Software glitch caused travel chaos, says air traffic control body Same event

BBC News

Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 68/100

British air traffic control outage caused by software defect, says operator Same event

The Straits Times

Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 66/100

Over 2,000 UK flight cancellations traced to millisecond software defect Same event

South China Morning Post

Hedges 0 of 5 claims Outlet record 64/100

UK air traffic controller blames a millisecond-software glitch for flight cancellations Same event

Toronto Star

Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100

Repeated air traffic control failures leave us in worrying territory Same event

BBC News

Hedges 2 of 32 claims Outlet record 68/100

Airports chaos caused by 'software glitch' officials find - as Government orders further probe but dodges sacking under-fire NATS boss Same event

Daily Mail

Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 68/100

Flight chaos affecting hundreds of thousands caused in ‘millisecond’ by software error Same event

The Guardian

Hedges 1 of 20 claims Outlet record 66/100

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

65/100

Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Technology

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

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Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

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Publisher

Evening Standard · 7906 article(s) · 65 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 65 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Rosie Shead

13 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 Ms Ross said she has not “been able to face getting back on a train” since the incident and is not sure when she will again.

2026-10-21 · assertive framing · Railways do not appear fit for purpose, says woman injured in Bedford crash

🔮 Motorists will also be given 10 minutes to leave car parks without facing a penalty once their session ends under a new private parking code of practice.

2026-10-20 · assertive framing · Drivers to get new rights to challenge ‘rip-off’ private parking charges

🔮 “This means holidaymakers could save themselves money and cut the cost of their winter sun holiday by doing some basic holiday pricing research before booking.”

2026-09-25 · assertive framing · South Africa, Kenya and Japan among best-value winter break spots – report

🔮 “Our inspectors will continue to check how these risks are being managed.”

2026-09-24 · assertive framing · Record assaults on passengers and public on Britain’s railways

🔮 Tourists will be ‘double taxed’ under Labour plans, says Ryanair boss

2026-09-23 · assertive framing · Tourists will be ‘double taxed’ under Labour plans, says Ryanair boss

🔮 Heidi Alexander told the Times newspaper she would meet Sir Warren East, the former chief executive of Rolls-Royce who is chair of the Nats board, in the coming weeks, and that she had had a “full and frank conversation” with Mr Rolfe where she had expressed her “anger at the situation”.

2026-09-23 · assertive framing · Transport Secretary to meet Nats chair amid calls for air traffic boss to quit

🔮 According to Ryanair, more than 25,000 of its passengers were expected to be disrupted and more than 140 of its flights had been delayed on Monday.

2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Air traffic control provider comes under fire after second issue in two weeks

🔮 According to Ryanair, more than 25,000 of its passengers were expected to be disrupted and more than 140 of its flights had been delayed on Monday.

2026-09-21 · assertive framing · Air traffic control provider comes under fire after second issue in two weeks

🔮 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.”

2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Flight disruption ‘not caused by any incorrect actions’ – report

🔮 “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.”

2026-09-18 · assertive framing · Flight disruption ‘not caused by any incorrect actions’ – report

Also by Rosie Shead

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 13 articles by Rosie Shead →

Topics

CAA Civil Aviation Authority Manchester Nats the National Air Traffic Services

Subjects

Nats ORG · 6× CAA ORG · 2× Rolfe PERSON · 2× Civil Aviation Authority ORG · 1× Manchester GPE · 1× Martin Rolfe PERSON · 1× the National Air Traffic Services ORG · 1×

Narrative

“I have therefore tasked the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) with conducting an independent review to check Nats’ findings and investigate their investment plans to enhance resilience in the future, along with regulatory accountability.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19

🔮 Writing in the report, Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe said that at this stage he could confirm the incident was not related to a Nats outage in 2023 or a radar issue in July last year.

2026-09-19 · Evening Standard

Flight ‘chaos’ this month caused by ‘software defect’ – report · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

An air traffic control issue which led to more than 2,000 flights being cancelled was caused by a defect in the software that allocates codes to individual aircraft, an investigation has found. asserted

investigation → lead → aircraft

A preliminary report into the incident on September 8 was released by the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) on Friday, who said that the issue was not caused by any “incorrect actions”. asserted

issue → release → actions

The fault caused flights both in and out of the UK to be axed, impacting hundreds of thousands of passengers. asserted

flights → cause → passengers

The codes are used to identify flights on radar while they are airborne. asserted

they → use → radar

Writing in the report, Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe said that at this stage he could confirm the incident was not related to a Nats outage in 2023 or a radar issue in July last year. uncertain

incident → write → 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 to travellers who were affected by the incident, as well for the challenges it caused to the aviation industry. asserted

it → apologise → industry

She said: “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 → say → chaos

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

Read More The CAA report is due to be published within six months. asserted

report → read → months

Mr Rolfe has faced renewed calls for his resignation following the incident, which impacted airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted. asserted

which → face → Heathrow

Last July, a “radar-related issue” caused an air traffic control failure which disrupted thousands of passengers and forced the cancellation of more than 160 flights. asserted

which → relate → flights

In August 2023, more than 700,000 passengers suffered disruption when flights were grounded at UK airports when Nats suffered a technical glitch while processing a flight plan. asserted

Nats → suffer → plan

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