The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has denied reports that data entered by a military jet was responsible for the air traffic control system failure that affected UK airports this week.
More than 2,000 flights arriving or departing the UK were cancelled following the fault at National Air Traffic Services (Nats) on Tuesday. The Financial Times reported on Friday, citing four sources, that a flight plan submitted by a military aircraft triggered the outage.
An MoD spokesperson stated, "We do not believe there’s any indication of an error on the part of the military." They added that it would be inappropriate to comment further while a Nats investigation, expected to conclude next week, is ongoing.
A Nats spokesperson said they are continuing to investigate the underlying cause and that a full technical investigation will follow. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has asked the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct an independent review into the incident, which is due to report within six months.
The disruption has led to calls for Martin Rolfe, chief executive of Nats, to resign. Mr Rolfe has apologised for the incident and stated he takes "full responsibility" for it.