British Airways IT outage caused by contractor who switched off power

A contractor doing maintenance work at a British Airways data centre inadvertently switched off the power supply, knocking out the airline's computer systems and leaving 75,000 people stranded last weekend, the Times newspaper reported on Friday.

Quoting a BA source, the newspaper said the power supply unit that sparked the IT failure was working perfectly but was accidentally shut down by a worker. An investigation into the power outage is likely to focus on human error rather than any equipment failure, it said. BA had to cancel all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports last Saturday. It blamed a power surge that knocked out its computer system, disrupting flight operations, call centres and its website. The contractors who manage the data centre where a power shutdown caused chaos for British Airways passengers over the bank holiday weekend have denied that any human error has been identified.

CBRE, which manages the facilities at BA's ageing Boadicea House data centre near Heathrow, said claims that the cause had been determined were "not founded in fact".

BA said its investigation was ongoing and the cause had not been determined. BA had to cancel all flights from London's Heathrow and Gatwick airports last Saturday.