Someone forgot to upgrade: Delayed flights, canceled by GPS tipping

The world did not stop this past weekend when the 10-week calendar of the Global Positioning System's precision timing system was "returned" to 0000000 – an event that has suddenly caused the operation of old uncorrected GPS systems. had jumped nearly 20 years back. But the long-awaited reset of the calendar count has apparently resulted in the cancellation of some flights abroad, as technicians have failed to detect warnings or update firmware.

According to reports on social media, at least one KLM flight – a Boeing 777 to Amsterdam to Bogota – and flights involving up to 15 Boeing 777s and 787s in China were delayed or canceled this week -end due to calendar transfer errors on the navigation systems on board these aircraft. Data on some of the identified flights confirmed significant delays in departures, with the KLM flight taking seven hours late.

A Reddit user said his girlfriend's KL741 KLM flight from Amsterdam Schiphol Airport had been "stuck on the ground". [do] the date being false and Honeywell can not guarantee the safety of the aircraft. "

Honeywell provides flight and navigation software for the Boeing 777 and 787 aircraft. In March, the company sent two newsletters on the service of failover of the weekly GPS meter and providing technical support data.

The same problem seemed to hit a Boeing 787 Shanghai Airlines (tail number B-1113), as well as more than a dozen other aircraft, according to a photo posted on Twitter by China Aviation Review:

Several Boeing 787s in China have experienced a 20-year GPS reversal problem. Some aircraft must be immobilized while waiting for an update. pic.twitter.com/IEFF2GHIt2

– ChinaAviationReview (@ChinaAvReview) April 7, 2019

The flight of the aircraft shown in the photo, MU 568, between Singapore and Shanghai, was delayed by four and a half hours. The date on the navigation display indicates that the change of week has the effect of reducing the schedule to 1999. According to China Aviation Review, some flights of other Chinese airlines have been canceled because planes were waiting for software updates.