Flights Resume After FAA Computer Glitch Grounds Thousands on the East Coast

New York City seen after taking off from LaGuardia

Air traffic in the eastern United States is beginning to return to normal, officials said.

Flights along the East Coast were disrupted for hours Saturday after a technical glitch at an air traffic control center occurred.  As of 8 p.m. EDT, almost 5,000 flights were delayed in the United States on Saturday while over 700 were cancelled, according to FlightStats, a flight tracking service.

The problem, which took place at the Federal Aviation Administration’s air traffic control center in Leesburg, Virginia near Washington, D.C., impacted flights in and out of New York City and the D.C. area

The glitch resulted in hundreds of cancellations and thousands of delayed flights up and down the coast.  The airports that saw the greatest impact were Ronald Reagan National, Washington Dulles International, John F. Kennedy International, Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, Philadelphia International, and LaGuardia airports.

The problem was resolved shortly after 4 p.m. EDT, said the FAA, which was working to resume normal operations at impacted airports.  The agency said it had not yet been able to diagnose the cause of the glitch.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)