2000: Less than a week after Y2K passes without a global computer meltdown, a glitch in a 1960s computer at the air traffic control center in Washington, D.C., slows and shuts down airlines in the Northeast.

Anybody who has ever listened to an air traffic controller knows they operate like a well-oiled machine, talking at speeds that would make a tobacco auctioneer envious. But the downside to the finely tuned system that directs air traffic across the skies is that even the smallest hiccup can cause nightmarish delays for travelers.

One of those hiccups led to a virtual shutdown of air traffic...

2000: Less than a week after Y2K passes without a global computer meltdown, a glitch in a 1960s computer at the air traffic control center in Washington, D.C., slows and shuts down airlines in the Northeast.

Anybody who has ever listened to an air traffic controller knows they operate like a well-oiled machine, talking at speeds that would make a tobacco auctioneer envious. But the downside to the finely tuned system that directs air traffic across the skies is that even the smallest hiccup can cause nightmarish delays for travelers.

One of those hiccups led to a virtual shutdown of air traffic...