The U.S. Air Force has denied reports that one of their U2 aircraft caused a severe problem with electronics at LAX airport at Los Angeles.
There was a U2 "Drag Lady" aircraft in flight in the area at the time of the glitch, the military stated. Still, they deny popular reports the spy craft was on a "secret mission" or that it was responsible for the incident.
"[W]e can confirm the U-2 did not cause the air traffic control system to fail," Air Force officials told the press. A spokesman at the Air Combat Command said the flight was a training mission, with a flight plan filed with the FAA.
The Federal Aviation Administration would not comment on the U2 aircraft, but stated a coding issue with a flight plan was responsible for the electronic problem.
The incident caused as many as five hundred flight delays at the sixth-busiest airport in the world, located 16 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
"FAA technical specialists resolved the specific issue that triggered the problem on Wednesday, and the FAA has put in place mitigation measures as engineers complete development of software changes," the agency reported in a public statement.
Problems occurred in the En Route Automation Modernization system (ERAM). This equipment increases the efficiency with which flight controllers are able to make changes to flight routes. This system is built by Lockheed Martin Corporation.
As the U2 entered the airspace, the plane was flying at 60,000 feet, miles above any commercial flights. The ERAM system became overloaded by the tremendous altitude of the plane, and struggled to prevent collisions that come nowhere near happening. Backup computers also failed, sending air traffic control into chaos. In response, flight managers halted takeoffs around the southwestern United States.
The U2 first flew in 1955, and is used primarily as a reconnaissance aircraft. Originally designed to watch the Soviet arsenal during the Cold War, they have flown in Afghanistan, where they identified targets for drone strikes. The Air Force still operates a handful of the craft, which are scheduled for retirement in the next few years.
"There are no U-2 planes assigned to Edwards," Gary Hatch, spokesman for the nearby Air Force base, told NBC.
In 1960, Francis Gary Powers was flying a spy mission over the Soviet Union when he was shot down by a Russian missile.
The pilot survived the attack, and was put on trial, during which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, including seven at hard labor. Powers returned to the United States following a 1962 prisoner exchange between Washington and Moscow.
The incident caused 27 flights to be canceled and 212 to be delayed.
