FAA: Flights delayed after computers couldn’t talk to each other because of router failure

FAA: Computers couldn’t talk to each other

WASHINGTON — Federal officials say flights were delayed across the country when a piece of communications equipment in Salt Lake City failed.

Federal Aviation Administration officials and an official for the union that represents the agency’s technicians said Thursday the failure prevented air traffic control computers in different regions of the country from talking to each other.

Two large computer centers in Salt Lake City and near Atlanta were affected, as well as 21 regional radar centers around the country.

The problem began with the failure of a single circuit board inside a router, a piece of communications equipment that enables computers to network to each other.