A technical glitch at a Virginia air-traffic-control center grounded thousands of New York and DC airline passengers Saturday, federal officials said.
Problems with an “automation system” at a Leesburg, Va., air-traffic center that handles high-altitude traffic forced delays and cancellations of flights in and out of the DC area, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, 50 percent of arrivals and 42 percent of departures were canceled at Reagan National Airport in Washington.
Flights to and from Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark that passed through the Washington area were either canceled or rerouted, officials said.
Aviation officials have ruled out hacking or an accident as the cause.