New York, Nov 19 (THAINDIAN NEWS) An FAA computer malfunction involving access to flight plans caused nationwide flight cancellations and delays on Thursday morning in the US.

The computer bug that caused all the problems was soon fixed in a few hours but travelers were affected and they struggled to make other alternative arrangements.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the computer system was up and running again by about 10 a.m. EST. But flights across the United States were being affected at least through the day and possibly longer.

Air traffic Controllers had “radio coverage and communications with planes” while the computer program was down, according to Bergen.

Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Union, said controllers were still entering flight plans manually in some of the airports, even after the bug was fixed.

Aviation officials told The Associated Press that the problem began at the computer center in the Salt Lake City. The officials asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly. FAA spokesman Paul Takemoto said the malfunction started between 5:15 and 5:30 a.m.

Airplane dispatchers had to send plans to controllers, who entered them by hand. “It’s slowing everything down,” Takemoto said. Some of the major flights were delayed and were more than two hours behind schedule.