UK says a cyberattack was not the cause of air traffic problems that snarled flights

LONDON (AP) — The British government says a cyberattack was not the cause of a breakdown at the nationwide air traffic control system that saw hundreds of flights delayed and canceled. Transport Secretary Mark Harper said the problem was caused by a “technical fault” at the flight control operator, National Air Traffic Services. The company said the outage had affected its ability to process flight plans automatically. That meant the plans had to be input manually, a much slower process. The problem hit on a late-summer holiday Monday that is one of the busiest days of the year for air travel. Harper says it will “take some days to get people back to where they should be.”