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| British Airways says IT chaos was caused by human error | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| British Airways' parent company says that human error caused an IT meltdown that left 75,000 passengers stranded over the Bank Holiday. | |
| Willie Walsh. boss of IAG, said that an electrical engineer disconnected the uninterruptible power supply which shut down BA's data centre. | Willie Walsh. boss of IAG, said that an electrical engineer disconnected the uninterruptible power supply which shut down BA's data centre. |
| He said on Monday there would now be an independent investigation "to learn from the experience". | |
| A leaked BA email last week had pointed the finger at a single contractor. | A leaked BA email last week had pointed the finger at a single contractor. |
| Appearing at an annual airline industry conference in Mexico, Mr Walsh said: "It's very clear to me that you can make a mistake in disconnecting the power. | Appearing at an annual airline industry conference in Mexico, Mr Walsh said: "It's very clear to me that you can make a mistake in disconnecting the power. |
| "It's difficult for me to understand how to make a mistake in reconnecting the power." | "It's difficult for me to understand how to make a mistake in reconnecting the power." |
| IAG has commissioned an "independent company to conduct a full investigation" into the IT crash and is "happy to disclose details" of its findings, Mr Walsh said. | IAG has commissioned an "independent company to conduct a full investigation" into the IT crash and is "happy to disclose details" of its findings, Mr Walsh said. |
| The BBC reported last week that senior company executives at IAG were pushing for an external probe into the computer meltdown. | The BBC reported last week that senior company executives at IAG were pushing for an external probe into the computer meltdown. |
| BA had said that a power surge caused the computer problem, but gave little further explanation. However, an email leaked to the media last week suggested that a contractor doing maintenance work inadvertently switched off the power supply. | BA had said that a power surge caused the computer problem, but gave little further explanation. However, an email leaked to the media last week suggested that a contractor doing maintenance work inadvertently switched off the power supply. |
| The email said: "This resulted in the total immediate loss of power to the facility, bypassing the backup generators and batteries... After a few minutes of this shutdown, it was turned back on in an unplanned and uncontrolled fashion, which created physical damage to the systems and significantly exacerbated the problem." | The email said: "This resulted in the total immediate loss of power to the facility, bypassing the backup generators and batteries... After a few minutes of this shutdown, it was turned back on in an unplanned and uncontrolled fashion, which created physical damage to the systems and significantly exacerbated the problem." |
| BA has already launched its own investigation, led by its chief executive Alex Cruz. | BA has already launched its own investigation, led by its chief executive Alex Cruz. |
| Following the computer crash, which caused travel chaos for people travelling from Heathrow and Gatwick, Mr Walsh gave his full backing to Mr Cruz. | Following the computer crash, which caused travel chaos for people travelling from Heathrow and Gatwick, Mr Walsh gave his full backing to Mr Cruz. |
| BA and IAG also rejected claims that the incident was due to Mr Cruz's decision to outsource the airline's IT department to India as part of cost-cutting measures. | BA and IAG also rejected claims that the incident was due to Mr Cruz's decision to outsource the airline's IT department to India as part of cost-cutting measures. |
| On Monday, Mr Walsh apologised again for the incident, saying: "When you see customers who suffered, you wouldn't want it to happen to any airline or any business." | On Monday, Mr Walsh apologised again for the incident, saying: "When you see customers who suffered, you wouldn't want it to happen to any airline or any business." |