3 chapters across the catalog
Brussels Airport Outage, Collins Aerospace, and OS/2 Warp
A major IT outage at Brussels Airport and other European hubs is attributed to software issues at Collins Aerospace, a defense contractor. The hosts speculate on whether this was a cyberattack or a competitive "hit job." This leads to an anecdote about the 1990s "OS/2 Warp" era and Steve Ballmer's alleged attempts to crash IBM's "crash-proof" operating system.
The NTSB issued an urgent safety warning regarding the rudder control system on certain Boeing 737 MAX and NG aircraft after a United Airlines flight experienced stuck pedals in Newark. Investigators determined that a sealed bearing from supplier Collins Aerospace was incorrectly assembled. Boeing has notified affected operators, and United Airlines has reportedly replaced the faulty components.
Multiple airlines recently grounded flights due to a failure in Collins ADS-B navigation and transponder equipment following an over-the-air software update. The update effectively broke the systems' ability to acquire GPS signals, illustrating the dangers of automated updates in critical infrastructure. This incident is cited as part of a broader trend where "glitches" in centralized databases and software stacks cause widespread systemic failures.
