The technical malfunction resulted in widespread disruption, affecting over 700,000 travellers at British airports on August 28, reported the Mirror.The CAA investigation determined that Nats had arranged for a Level 2 engineer to be available on call, rather than present at the facility, despite it being an exceptionally busy travel day. A less experienced Level 1 engineer, present at Nats' Swanwick facility in Hampshire, initiated diagnostic procedures immediately after systems failed at 8.32am.The report indicated that system architecture complications prevented quick verification of the Level 2 engineer's login credentials. After exhausting remote assistance options, the engineer travelled to the control centre, arriving three hours and 15 minutes after the incident began, with the journey taking 90 minutes.Investigators recommended that Nats should maintain Level 2 engineering presence on-site during peak periods, including summer. The report acknowledged that implementing necessary improvements following the August 28, 2023 system failure would require substantial investment, potentially reaching £100 million.EasyJet's Johan Lundgren criticised Nats severely for failing both airlines and passengers, emphasising the need to prevent similar incidents. The unprecedented failure stemmed from identical three-letter waypoints used for location identification.
