Sky News Off Air Briefly, Planes Disrupted During Global IT Outage

Sky News went off the air briefly on Friday morning amid a global IT outage, which also disrupted flights around the world and train services in the U.K.

According to the BBC, the disruptions appear to be linked to a software update that went awry for cybersecurity company Crowdstrike’s anti-virus software, which has affected many of Microsoft’s Windows devices. In a statement to the BBC, Microsoft blamed “third-party software,” but did not name the platform.

“We’re aware of an issue affecting Windows devices due to an update from a third-party software platform. We anticipate a resolution is forthcoming,” a Microsoft spokesperson told the BBC.

Crowdstrike then issued a statement of its own, saying that it is “actively working with customers impacted by a defect found in a single content update for Windows hosts. Mac and Linux hosts are not impacted. This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed.”

In a statement on X, Sky News chairman David Rhodes said that the network had “not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, currently telling viewers that we apologize for the interruption. Much of our news report is still available online, and we are working hard to restore all services.”

Sky News’ broadcast was restored around 9 a.m. U.K. time, but “without full capabilities,” Rhodes said on X. At 9:52 a.m. local time, it was restored fully.

In regards to air travel, the BBC reports that airports in New Zealand, Japan, India, Amsterdam’s Schipol, Hong Kong, Australia, Edinburgh, Berlin and more have experienced technical difficulties. In the U.S., United, Delta and American airlines have issued a “global ground stop” on all of their flights. Flights that are currently in the air have been given the green light to continue, but no other flights will depart.

Reuters reported that the Paris Olympics’ IT systems have also been affected, but that they have a back-up plan in place should it be needed.

Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern railway services in the U.K. also posted on social media that they are experiencing “widespread IT issues” that they warned passengers could disrupt their travel plans.

According to the BBC, technical issues are also being reported within the NHS’ GP system in the U.K., preventing patients from booking new appointments. The popular bakery chain Gail’s has also reported that it is unable to take any in-store payments.