Microsoft experienced a significant global outage affecting millions of computer systems. Users reported sudden shutdowns and restarts, which Microsoft attributed to a recent update from CrowdStrike. According to Microsoft's Service Health Status updates, the preliminary root cause was "a configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads" causing interruptions between storage and compute resources. This led to connectivity failures affecting downstream Microsoft 365 services.
CrowdStrike's engineering team identified a content deployment related to the issue and reverted the changes, posting steps for resolution for affected Windows users. Microsoft is actively rerouting impacted traffic to alternate systems to mitigate the issue, observing continuous improvements in service availability.
The outage has had widespread impacts, including technical issues for airlines like SpiceJet, Akasa Air, Vistara, and IndiGo, affecting booking, check-in, and flight updates. Airlines resorted to manual check-ins, advising passengers to arrive early.
Akasa Air announced some online services were temporarily unavailable due to infrastructure issues with their service provider. IndiGo confirmed the outage impacted their systems, affecting booking and check-in processes. Vistara also reported technical challenges across various operations due to the global outage.
Delhi and Bengaluru airports reported temporary impacts on services. Delhi airport advised passengers to stay in touch with their airlines for updated flight information. The extent of flight delays at Bengaluru airport remains unclear.
Australia was among the worst-affected countries. The Sydney Morning Herald reported disruptions to ABC News 24, Woolworths supermarkets, and police systems. Melbourne airport faced check-in process issues for several airlines, and Virgin Australia halted flights at Sydney Airport.
In the UK, the London Stock Exchange was reportedly affected, and Sky News experienced prolonged outages. The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded flights from major airlines like Delta, United, and American Airlines. 911 emergency services in several US states were also impacted.
Europe faced delays in Amsterdam, flight cancellations at Berlin Brandenburg airport, and suspended arrivals at Zurich airport due to the tech outage.
Globally, millions of Windows users encountered the Blue Screen of Death, causing systems to shut down or restart repeatedly, resulting in data loss and service disruptions.
The error message displayed during these shutdowns read, "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you."
The outage highlights the critical nature of cloud infrastructure and the widespread consequences when such systems fail. Microsoft and its partners are working to resolve the issues and restore normal operations as swiftly as possible.
Follow us
