Global Microsoft, CrowdStrike outage disrupts flights, banks, hospitals, 911 systems

(NewsNation) — Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike said it has identified and is fixing the “defect” in a software update it deployed to Microsoft Windows customers, one that crashed hundreds of thousands of computers overnight and crippled airlines, hospitals, banks and other businesses around the world.

“Today was not a security or cyber incident. Our customers remain fully protected,” CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz said. “We understand the gravity of the situation and are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and disruption. We are working with all impacted customers to ensure that systems are back up and they can deliver the services their customers are counting on.”

Kurtz continued in a recent update, “As noted earlier, the issue has been identified and a fix has been deployed. There was an issue with a Falcon content update for Windows Hosts.”

Many CrowdStrike customers were required to manually fix their systems, a time-consuming task that lengthened the outage.

Microsoft announced at 6:46 a.m. ET that the underlying cause of the outage has been fixed, but the impact of the outage will continue to affect Microsoft 365 apps and services for the time being. The company said it is working to provide relief and will continue to keep the public updated.

The outage affected companies worldwide across multiple industries, including airlines, banks, hospitals, retail outlets, railway companies, 911 services and some broadcast news operations.

By late afternoon Eastern time, the worst appeared to be over, though there were still lingering cancellations and delays due to the cascading effect of the disruption.

The White House is aware of the outage and is looking into the issue and impacts it has had, a National Security Council source told NewsNation.

The Department of Homeland Security announced it and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency were working with Microsoft, CrowdStrike and governments to asses and fix the system outages.

Outage prompts ground stop

The outage prompted the FAA to order a ground stop for some U.S. airlines, including American, Delta, Allegiant and United. As of 11 a.m. ET, all ground stops had been canceled.

Flights in the air were not being asked to land before reaching their destinations, but pilots were warned they may experience communication problems.

American Airlines was the first airline to resume operation after the initial ground stop.

“Earlier this morning, a technical issue with a vendor impacted multiple carriers, including American. As of 5 a.m. ET, we have been able to safely re-establish our operation. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience,” American Airlines said in a statement.

Delta announced just before 8 a.m. ET that it resumed some flights but delays and cancellations were expected throughout Friday. The airline company issued travel waivers for passengers who booked flights for Friday that allow customers to manage travel changes and rebook flights.

The FAA also added a ground stop for PSA Airlines early Friday morning, but it has since been lifted.

Southwest Airlines said in a statement it did not experience any issues and that flights proceeded as scheduled. Frontier Airlines told NewsNation it was temporarily impacted but is “resuming normal operations.”

As of 11 a.m. ET, nearly 28,000 flights had been delayed worldwide and nearly 3,000 canceled, according to FlightAware. Together, American, United and Delta have canceled 1,138 flights.

NewsNation travel editor Peter Greenberg said airlines will likely use “act of God” exemptions to avoid having to refund travelers for canceled flights. However, airlines will likely work with passengers to rebook them on later flights.

911 systems down across US

The Phoenix Police Department said Friday morning its computerized 911 dispatch center experienced a widespread systems outage. However, those who needed emergency police services were still able to contact police over the radio.

Phoenix isn’t the only city experiencing an outage with its 911 systems.

New York City’s 911 system has also been completely down from the outage. An NYPD officer told NewsNation that the department had no backup systems in place for New Yorkers to get in touch with the city’s emergency systems.

The 911 systems were operating at some capacity in the early morning, allowing people to contact the emergency dispatch. However, dispatchers had to radio emergency responders or call them directly on their cellphones, which took longer than the original systems and created more chaos within the department.

As of 10 a.m. ET, the city’s 911 system and life-safety-related services were running as expected, according to Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser.

This is happening in dozens of departments across the U.S., including major cities like Minneapolis, Seattle and Atlanta.

During a news conference Friday morning, New York City officials confirmed that New York hospitals were up and running as usual and urged residents not to procrastinate getting needed treatment.

What we know about the Microsoft, CrowdStrike outage

Users on X started reporting so-called “blue screen of death” (or BSOD) errors on Windows machines Friday morning. Video from airports showed terminal screens glowing blue as passengers and workers waited for a resolution.

CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity firm companies use to prevent data breaches. Kurtz said on X it this was not a cyberattack, saying a “defect” in a software update for its Windows customers appeared to be the cause.

“The issue has been identified, isolated and a fix has been deployed,” Kurtz said.

Shares in CrowdStrike were down on the day, plunging as much as 15% in early morning stock market trading since rebounding slightly.

Companies react to Microsoft outage

The outage wreaked havoc across multiple industries Friday morning, from broadcast news to public transportation.

A Lexington, Kentucky, TV station announced on X it would have to cancel its morning show. U.K. broadcaster Sky News couldn’t run live programming for a time.

The metro system in Washington, D.C., initially announced it had been impacted by the outage but later confirmed all Metrorail stations were able to open on time and service is running as scheduled.

DownDetector also shows Microsoft had issues Thursday evening that appeared to be resolved before another outage began just after midnight.

Mass General Brigham Hospital in Boston has canceled all nonurgent surgeries and procedures Friday as a result of the outage.

“A major worldwide software outage has affected many of our systems at Mass General Brigham, as well as many major businesses across the country. Due to the severity of this issue, all previously scheduled non-urgent surgeries, procedures and medical visits are canceled (Friday),” the hospital said in a statement.

Americans react to Microsoft outage

One man on X posted that his airline had to manually write out his boarding pass in India because computers weren’t working.

A TikTok user, who goes by the name Jackie Zee, posted a video from Orange County, California, saying computer systems at the hospital she works at are blocked and medical professionals don’t have access to patient charts.