FAA Computer Glitch Delaying Flights At O'Hare, Midway and Around Country

Computer Problems at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Georgia are delaying flights at O'Hare, Midway and other airports around the country.

"Midway delays were running up to 1 hour and 45 minutes and increasing as of 2:50 p.m.," The Tribune says. "Delays at O'Hare were less severe, running between 16 minutes and a half hour."

The AP has the national story:

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen says there are no safety issues and officials are still able to speak to pilots on planes on the ground and in the air.

She says she doesn't know how many flights are being affected.

Bergen says the problem that occurred Tuesday afternoon involves an FAA facility in Hampton, Ga., south of Atlanta, that processes flight plans. She says there has been a failure in a communication link that transmits the data to a similar facility in Salt Lake City.

As a result, the Salt Lake City facility has to process those flight plans, causing delays in planes taking off. She said there are no problems with planes landing.

"There will be flight delays," Bergen said. "It could be any location, because one facility is now processing flight data for everybody."