Did Malware Crash a Plane? [Malware Suggested as a Cause of Spanair Flight 5022's Crash]

Tweet

We’ve all heard about viruses that can crash a computer, but viruses that can crash a plane? That’s not the kind of thing you hear about every day, so imagine the shock on a lot of faces to discover that malware may have been behind the crash of Spanair Flight 5022 at the Madrid International Airport back in 2008.

They’re still investigating this one, so it’s a bit premature to say that malware actually caused the crash, but the word so far is that the airline’s central computer system that monitors technical problems had a load of malware in it. This in turn caused problems by which mechanical problems on board Flight 5022 were not reported.

See, the plane’s own computer systems should have warned the crew that the plane’s flaps and slats were retracted, which is not where they’re supposed to be prior to takeoff. But, as the US National Transportation Safety Board found in its investigation, no such audible alarm went off in the plane.

So now, the investigation is focusing on whether the malware in the central system prevented the warnings from reaching the plane’s systems, or it was the plane’s systems that failed to warn. A final report is expected this December, so we should know by then.

Until then, though, keep your antivirus stuff up to date, folks.

Tweet

You may also like:

Up to 5 Million Android Users Hit by New Malware Attack:...

American Airlines Allows Pilots To Use iPads Instead Of...

iOS 5 Jailbreak Call to Arms Issued by Chronic Dev Team...