Computer glitch hits US flights

The delays affected Atlanta airport, one of the world's busiest

A computer glitch affecting aircraft flight plans has caused cancellations and delays along the US east coast.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a computer system in Atlanta, Georgia, which processes flight plans stopped working properly.

As a result, controllers were forced to enter flight plans manually.

The FAA said the safety of planes in the air was not affected and, according to US media reports, the computer system is now working again.

The problems began at about 0515 local time (1015 GMT) on Thursday and, according to the Associated Press news agency, were resolved around 1000.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was worst affected, with dozens of flights cancelled or delayed.

Airports in New York, Boston and Florida also reported delays.

Airline officials said they expected the delays to continue through the day.

Last August a similar computer failure affected hundreds of flights across the US.