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‘Cyber attack?’: Internet speculates after ‘tech issue’ grounds United Airlines flights in US
A ground stop was issued for United Airlines’ mainline flights from departure airports, prompting issues at several US airports.
United Airlines stated that a technical issue prompted the company to temporarily ground its flights at major airports across the US. "Due to a technology issue, we are holding United mainline flights at their departure airports," the airline reportedly said. However, social media users are refusing to accept the explanation, speculating that the incident was caused by a “cyber attack” and that the company is trying to cover that up.
What had happened?
The carrier did not provide details of the tech issue that grounded its flights. However, according to a Reuters report, the outage was caused by the airline’s weight calculation system.
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The outage lasted more than an hour and prompted ground stops at key airports, including Houston, Chicago, Denver, and Newark, reported Reuters, citing the US Federal Aviation Administration's website.
Social media is rife with rumours
An individual questioned, “Are we sure this wasn't a Cyber attack?? And United is just covering it up.” Another added, “Alaska Airlines just had this problem, and now them? Fishy fishy.”
A third expressed, “Again, it had me thinking it’s likely AI or cyber attack related.” A fourth wrote, “Could be a cyber attack by China if calculations are involved.”
The outage faced by United Airlines came just a few weeks after the Alaska Airlines incident, in which the company had to ground all of its flights for nearly three hours. Alaska Airlines said that the outage was caused by IT issues.
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United Airlines on the outage
"We expect additional flight delays this evening as we work through this issue. Safety is our top priority, and we'll work with our customers to get them to their destinations,” the company said in a statement.
