Computer glitch grounds aeroplanes

A computer fault has forced United Airlines to ground its flights in the US for the second time in recent weeks.

The firm blamed a “network connectivity issue” for the latest fault.

The two-hour long issue caused delays to more than 90 of its aircrafts, according to the FlightAware website.

The airline had to enforce a shorter flight ban on 2 June after incorrect data appeared in its flight planning system.

Shares in the firm fell more than 1.5% in morning’s trade.

The cybersecurity blogger Brian Krebs tweeted that the issue had been caused by a computer router malfunction rather than a cyber attack or sabotage, a fact that was later confirmed by United itself.

United is not the only carrier to have suffered such an IT-related setback over the past few months.

In April, American Airlines had to ground dozens of its jets after a flight plan tablet app, used by its pilots and co-pilots, stopped working.