‘Memory shortage led to air traffic system failure’

A system to control American air traffic has run amok several times because the so-called eram system had too little working memory. Complex flight plans in particular would lead to restarting systems.

Early this month, eram air traffic control systems were disrupted, resulting in hundreds of flight delays and cancellations. The cause turned out to be a U2 spy plane. The aircraft, with its high altitude and complex flight plan, would have caused the eram software to run wild. To guarantee safety, it was decided to temporarily suspend air traffic in the airspace around Los Angeles.

Further research has shown that the problems with eram, which was built by Lockheed Martin, are partly caused by insufficient computer memory. If the software has to process too complex flight plans, the working memory becomes full and the systems can freeze, after which automatic restarts are performed, Reuters reports citing two anonymous sources. In addition, there is a risk that the eram systems end up in a loop.

The problems with the eram system could be exploited by an enemy to penetrate US airspace undetected, but experts argue that such an attack method is very complex to execute. The necessary bug fixes to solve the problems with eram are said to be in the works.