Nav Canada computer failure causes numerous delays at Toronto's Pearson airport

The Canadian Press

TORONTO - A computer problem led to numerous flight delays and some cancellations in and out of Toronto's Pearson International Airport on Thursday night.

A Nav Canada flight planning computer crashed resulting in significant delays for departing flights.

That led to cancellations and delays for incoming flights as the airport ran out of space for aircraft.

Nav Canada said on its Twitter feed that the system was back up, but warned delays would continue as it managed flight volumes at the airport.

Air Canada told concerned travellers via Twitter that the delays and cancellations were out of its control due to a major Nav Canada computer system failure in Toronto.

One passenger tweeted that her plane had left the gate "three hours ago" but had not taken off.

"At least waiting for 2 hours in your plane includes free movies, music and plugs. Wanna be home though," another passenger tweeted.

Nav Canada did not immediately return emails and phone calls asking for comment.