Air traffic control meltdown which left thousands of fliers stranded ‘caused by a SINGLE military aircraft’

A SINGLE military aircraft is feared to have sparked the air traffic control meltdown which grounded thousands of planes. The UK military jet reportedly entered “spurious” flight data which caused several hours of chaos for the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) on Tuesday and left Brit passengers stranded at several major airports. Passengers wait at a departure lounge at a terminal in Heathrow Airport Credit: EPA A passenger sleeps on the floor surrounded by luggage at Gatwick Airport Credit: PA British skies were completely shut down for four hours and it took several attempts for the systems, which manage 8,000 flights a day, to restart. The turmoil is not thought to have been caused by a direct error on the part of the military, according to the Ministry of Defence. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Investigations are ongoing. Kathryn Leahy, Nats operations director, told industry bosses about the source of the disorder during a briefing on Tuesday evening, an insider said. read more on the meltdown Martin Rolfe, the head of NATS, Britain’s air traffic control service Credit: Alamy Passengers wait at a departure lounge at a terminal in Heathrow Airport Credit: EPA More than 2,000 flights have been cancelled within the last three days as airports across the UK were thrown into turmoil. Experts have warned the disruption could drag on for weeks after the major failure at the Nats Swanwick control centre. Roughly 300,000 passengers have been affected following the initial meltdown on Tuesday and experts have warned the disruption could drag on for weeks. Some 51 services were axed yesterday, with Heathrow alone suffering 28 cancellations. Most read in The Sun Seven departing flights and 21 arrivals were cancelled at Europe’s biggest airport – much to the agony of devastated holidaymakers. The disruption also hit Gatwick, which faces 11 grounded flights, and Glasgow, with five services impacted. London City, Manchester, Luton and Aberdeen are also among the 15 NATS-controlled airports to face disruption. Martin Rolfe, 51, the Nats senior executive is now facing pressure to quit following the disruption – marking his third catastrophic failure as chief. Rolfe was paid £1.5 million, including £871,000 in bonuses, last year, but is now facing questions over his future. He has been accused of overseeing a “litany of failures” during his time as CEO of the UK’s air traffic control services. He previously faced turbulence in 2023 when he oversaw his first failure in air traffic control which affected more than 250,000 passengers. After the incident Nats promised airline bosses that a similar disaster would not happen again, the agency has insisted this has not been a repeat incident. Speaking to the FT, one airline executive, said: “We were told the [recommendations after 2023] had been fully implemented, but to tell you the truth, we never saw the evidence.” Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary accused Nats of lying about the reason behind this week’s meltdown and branded Mr Rolfe’s assurances “worthless”. He furiously stated: “We’ve had the third collapse of the UK air traffic control. The first one was in 2023, we had another one in 2025, and the latest one this week. “The UK air traffic control system collapsed. Nats’ air traffic controllers have already told our ops’ controllers it’s a re-run of something similar to what happened in 2023. It’s a bogus flight plan that has brought down the system.”