Air traffic control outage causes delays, cancellations

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — An air traffic computer is back up and running,  but not before the problem caused delays and flight cancellations at ILM and across the United States this weekend.

Officials said something broke down in a computer system that processes flight plans at the air control center in Leesburg, Virginia. Spokesman Gary Taylor said that affected flights Saturday and Sunday morning at ILM.

The FAA temporarily shut down departures from all three Washington airports Saturday. At least two of those airports eventually resumed operations, but the glitch had a domino effect.

The two hardest hit airports were Reagan Washington National Airport and Baltimore Washington International Airport.

Flight aware said there were more than 3,400 delays and 640 cancellations involving flights originating in or flying to the United States on Saturday.

Not all delays were due to the FAA computer issues.