Crazy 12-Hour Timelapse Shows Plane Traffic Screeching To A Grinding Halt

In what is likely the biggest IT outage in history, American Airlines, Delta, and United were forced to implement a nationwide ground stop, causing massive disruptions across the aviation industry. Thanks to FlightRadar24, a 12-hour timelapse video reveals the scale of the chaos, showing the drastic reduction in plane traffic for the three airlines.

The outage, which also led to numerous flight cancellations and affected internal and external systems across various industries-including hospitals, banks, and stock exchanges-was linked to some Microsoft-based computers ceasing to function.

CrowdStrike, an American cybersecurity technology firm providing cloud workload protection, threat intelligence, and cyberattack response services, has confirmed that the outage was not due to a cyberattack. Instead, it was caused by a software issue, which has since been identified and addressed.

12-hour timelapse of American Airlines, Delta, and United plane traffic after what was likely the biggest IT outage in history forced a nationwide ground stop of the three airlines. pic.twitter.com/wwcQeiEtVe

— Colin McCarthy (@US_Stormwatch) July 19, 2024

CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz explained the situation in an on-air interview with CNBC: "Some systems can be fixed and back up and running immediately, but for others, it could take hours, or even longer, before everything is operational again. For some customers, simply rebooting systems will not suffice to resolve the issue."

Kurtz further elaborated on the company's efforts: "CrowdStrike is actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website."

He also emphasized the importance of proper communication channels: "We recommend organizations ensure they're communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilized to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers."

As the aviation industry grapples with the fallout from this unprecedented IT outage, the timelapse video serves as a stark reminder of the extensive impact such disruptions can have on global operations.