Chaos As Global Tech Outage Delays Flights, Disrupts Services
A global tech outage that appeared to be related to issues at global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft was affecting operations in various sectors on July 19, including airports, airlines, media, and banks.
![Passengers at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport await further information during the outage. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0a00-0242-b707-08dca7ee8bbc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Passengers at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport await further information during the outage.
![A man reads news of Microsoft's global outage on a mobile phone in Karachi, Pakistan. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-ac3d-08dca7f9259c_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man reads news of Microsoft's global outage on a mobile phone in Karachi, Pakistan.
![A flight information screen shows an error message amid a global IT outage at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on July 19. Companies and institutions around the world have been affected by a major computer outage in systems running Microsoft Windows, apparently linked to a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/101ac002-bec8-4be1-b76d-4f41035a55e1_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A flight information screen shows an error message amid a global IT outage at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on July 19.
Companies and institutions around the world have been affected by a major computer outage in systems running Microsoft Windows, apparently linked to a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update.
Companies and institutions around the world have been affected by a major computer outage in systems running Microsoft Windows, apparently linked to a faulty CrowdStrike cybersecurity software update.
![Passengers wait to be checked in manually at Kuala Lumpur International Airport amid a global IT outage in Sepang. A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike appeared to have triggered system problems that grounded flights, forced some broadcasters off the air, and left customers without access to services such as health care or banking.](https://gdb.rferl.org/34d59a72-c29c-41d0-9d65-7a1332781684_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Passengers wait to be checked in manually at Kuala Lumpur International Airport amid a global IT outage in Sepang.
A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike appeared to have triggered system problems that grounded flights, forced some broadcasters off the air, and left customers without access to services such as health care or banking.
A software update by global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike appeared to have triggered system problems that grounded flights, forced some broadcasters off the air, and left customers without access to services such as health care or banking.
![Passengers wait for new information at the flight information boards at Terminal 4 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport.](https://gdb.rferl.org/4e728c1d-9ecd-4cd2-9e74-5346efe27af7_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Passengers wait for new information at the flight information boards at Terminal 4 of Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport.
![A cash register shows a blue screen at a grocery store in Sydney. Services slowly started coming back online after hours of disruption. ](https://gdb.rferl.org/2b537ca1-e5c3-4baa-9d52-2888af37583b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A cash register shows a blue screen at a grocery store in Sydney.
Services slowly started coming back online after hours of disruption.
Services slowly started coming back online after hours of disruption.
![The outage affected passengers at Berlin International Airport before traffic partially resumed at around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT). ](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0a00-0242-061a-08dca7d7ada8_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The outage affected passengers at Berlin International Airport before traffic partially resumed at around 11 a.m. (0900 GMT).
![Airport staff at Hong Kong International Airport manually check in passengers.](https://gdb.rferl.org/05ab2f89-6b0c-4178-9f73-389967d8cb1b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Airport staff at Hong Kong International Airport manually check in passengers.
![Passengers who were unable to check in at Rotterdam-The Hague Airport wait outside.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-f686-08dca7fb0a3f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Passengers who were unable to check in at Rotterdam-The Hague Airport wait outside.
![At Gatwick Airport, an airport staff member advises passengers that some flights have been cancelled. Airports including London Luton, Belfast, and Edinburgh warned of longer waiting times for passengers.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-0ef1-08dca7fd62bc_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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At Gatwick Airport, an airport staff member advises passengers that some flights have been cancelled. Airports including London Luton, Belfast, and Edinburgh warned of longer waiting times for passengers.
![In New York's LaGuardia Airport, some passengers took to sleeping where they could as they waited out the outage. Delays and cancellations were expected to persist throughout the day.](https://gdb.rferl.org/01000000-0aff-0242-5c35-08dca7fd62c1_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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In New York's LaGuardia Airport, some passengers took to sleeping where they could as they waited out the outage.
Delays and cancellations were expected to persist throughout the day.
Delays and cancellations were expected to persist throughout the day.