Grounded US flights fuel widespread conspiracies

Published January 12th, 2023 - 09:12 GMT
Conspiracy theories
A traveler looks at a flight information board at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on January 11, 2023 in Arlington, Virginia. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP

ALBAWABA - A technical glitch caused massive chaos at a United State airport, forcing all flights to be grounded.

Although the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) insisted on a system error, multiple conspiracy theories emerged online.

FAA said thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed on Wednesday after a system related to safety information for pilots failed. The government launched a probe into the technical glitch.

Meanwhile, several conspiracy theories popped up on social media, with some pointing to a cyber attack.

However, the FAA responded: "At this time, there is no evidence of a cyber attack."

Other conspiracies claimed that a nuke threat or missile launched from North Korea may have been the reason for the delay of about 1,000 flights, while some argued that  it was due to fear of a new COVID-19 strain discovered in the vicinity.

A group of people started the rumor of an imminent terror plan planned by extremists, but that the government foiled it, preventing a recurrence of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York's Twin Towers and other U.S. sites.

A conspiracy theory was claimed by a Twitter user who said that this is part of a plan to increase the sales of Prince Harry's new book, which he said was selling in the airport's terminal.

Flights resumed at around 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT), though airlines cautioned of the possibility of further delays.

The Independent reported that Canada is currently facing some mysterious air system outage as the U.S.


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