This is a developing story and will be updated.
Flights and some businesses across Western North Carolina were thrown into chaos Friday as a software malfunction crashed computer systems across the globe. Over 1,700 flights have been canceled across the United States and 911 phone lines are down in some states and major cities including Alaska and Philadelphia.
In a statement, the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike said it was “actively working” to address the problem, which it said was “not a security incident or cyberattack.”
“We are working hard to provide comprehensive and continuous updates with our global customers as quickly as possible,” the company said.
At Asheville Regional Airport, flights were delayed or canceled, according to Chief Administrative Officer Tina Kinsey.
“Passengers should check directly with their airlines for specific flight status/changes before coming to the airport,” Kinsey said in an email. “That is where the most up to date info will be available.”
The North Carolina Department of Transportation said that the outage had disrupted its motor vehicle services.
“All #NCDMV Driver License offices and License Plate Agencies are unable to assist customers this morning due to the current global Microsoft and CrowdStrike outage,” the department said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “NCDMV is monitoring the situation along with NCDIT and will resume service once the global outage has been repaired”
Asheville’s Mission Hospital “has not been directly impacted” by the technology malfunction, although some vendors have been affected.
“All Mission Health hospitals and clinics remain open and MAMA air and ground services are fully operational,” spokeswoman Nancy Lindell said in a statement. “However, some of our technology vendors have been impacted requiring a few procedures to be rescheduled. The limited number of patients impacted by this will be contacted directly.”
The Buncombe County Government said in a 10 a.m. update that its offices are operating on a regular schedule and that core services such as 911, emergency services, libraries and election services are running as normal.
A handful of services such as Mountain Mobility, permitting and air quality reporting may be affected. The county is advising individuals who have scheduled on-demand or paratransit trips to call (828) 250-6750 to confirm their trip.
Reporters Felicia Sonmez, Helen Chickering and Lilly Knoepp contributed to this article.
