A U-2 spy plane may have caused a computer glitch that shut down of U.S. flights across the Southwestern United States.
The computer glitch took place at the Federal Aviation Administration in California; it interfered with the travel of tens of thousands of travelers passing through the Los Angeles International Airport, Reuters reported.
"FAA technical specialists resolved the specific issue that triggered the problem on Wednesday, and the FAA has put in place mitigation measures as engineers complete development of software changes. The FAA will fully analyze the event to resolve any underlying issues that contributed to the incident and prevent a reoccurrence," the FAA stated in a statement sent to NBC News.
The glitch also affected flights both departing and arriving from "Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, California, John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California, and McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas," Reuters reported.
Flights in other parts of the country that were bound for that region were also affected by the glitch.
The U-2 "Cold War-era spy plane" is still used by the U.S. military; as it passed through the air space manned by the Los Angeles Air Route Traffic Control Center it caused the computer system to overload.
Sources told NBC news the flight was a "Dragon Lady," referring to the aircraft's nickname.
The computers were working to keep the U-2 aircraft from colliding with other planes in the airspace when the overload occurred. The risk of collision was low at the time because the craft was flying at 60,000 feet while other aircrafts flew below.
"We aren't confirming anything beyond what we already said about it being a software issue that we corrected," FAA spokeswoman Lynn Lunsford told Reuters. She did not confirm whether or not the U-2 flight was the cause of the computer glitch.
