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A defensively programmed safety critical system should reject (loudly) the offending flight plan (and its permission to fly in the airspace) rather than shut itself off and leave all the planes flying (currently and in the foreseable future) to figure things out for themselves.

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Said that and yes is always an easy and apparent statement to make as an armchair outsider.. read the full report? ;)

(Hint again: Something certainly could have been done much better there in this system, but the limited component itself that all caused this maybe even just had no other option at that point. Been there once in those many component systems talking with each other across with too many interfaces, people, etc involved, part of them safety critical and also subject to endless requirements and certifications? Can recommend..)

Our flight plan validator still gives me nightmares.

All the more reason that a single flight plan that fails path validation doesnt (by design) shut down the entire air space of a nation for 24-48 hours.

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