London: failure in air traffic control center, large disturbances

Big mess on Friday afternoon in the British sky, particularly over London, due to a computer failure in an air traffic control center.

this problem of computers occurred in the center of Swanwick in south-east England.

The incident lasted just over half an hour, late afternoon, but it immediately led to delays or cancellations of flights or arrival of major London airports, but also in other British cities. Several flights were also confused.

This is the second such incident in a year.

"Unacceptable," said Transport Minister.

The sky of London is one of the busiest in the world including Heathrow Airport, which alone, every year more than 70 million passengers.

The UK air traffic control was privatized in the early 2000s.