Microsoft Server Outage: Hospitals, Flights, Railways Among Critical Services To Be Hit Across World

A global Microsoft server outage has disrupted critical services such as airline operations, banking, and healthcare. The outage caused Windows Blue Screen of Death errors, leading to system failures.

The Microsoft server outage has stalled critical services across the globe, including airline, hospital and banking operations. The global outage occurred just hours after the tech giant announced it was addressing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services. It even disrupted the 911 emergency service in the US.

The outage also caused Windows users worldwide to encounter the Blue Screen of Death, resulting in unexpected shutdowns and restarts, with some users losing unsaved data.

Banking Services Hit

Reports from Australia indicated that banking services were severely impacted, with several banks losing access to their systems. New Zealand banks also experienced outages. Commonwealth Bank, Australia's largest bank, reported that fund transfers were hit due to the outage. Other banks impacted by the Microsoft server outage in Australia, included National Australia Bank (NAB) and Bendigo.

Social media users too highlighted the problems of accessing bankingservices even as Microsoft 365 assured users that it was working to redirect traffic and restore services. The outage also caused payment system failures at Australian retailers like Woolworths, leading to long queues.

Flight Operations Disrupted

Flight services across the world have been delayed as airlines moved to manual check-in and boarding procedures due to the Microsoft outage. Europe's largest carrier from Ireland, Ryanair, and Indian airline firms, SpiceJet and Akasa Air, switched to manual check-in procedures.

Major airports like Singapore's Changi, India's Delhi and Mumbai, all Spanish airports, Czech Republic's Prague, Netherlands's Amsterdam, and many others are reporting major disruptions in services.

Chaos In Hospitals Due To Microsoft Outage

Hospitals under the National Health Services in the UK have been hit, reported The Daily Mail. Doctors are unable to write prescriptions as they can't access patient records. Other healthcare service providers are also not being able to make hospital or doctor appointments.

News agency Reuters reported that two hospitals in Germany had to cancel elective surgery procedures on Friday due to the server outage.

What Has Microsoft Said About The Outage?

According to The Mirror, Microsoft said that it was treating the outage with the "highest priority and urgency". "We continue to address the lingering impact for the Microsoft 365 apps that are in a degraded state. Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions," Microsoft said.