We All Make Mistakes: 3 of the World’s Most Infamous Software Bugs

Even the tiniest bugs can turn into catastrophic oversights, and the world of technology has seen its fair share of embarrassing moments. Some of the most significant events in history were caused by a single, tiny, seemingly insignificant bug.

Heathrow Airport: Terminal 5 Opening

As part of the brand-new Terminal 5 at London’s Heathrow Airport, staff had to test the baggage handling system to ensure it could cope with the enormous luggage demands it would face daily. Despite testing the system with over 12,000 pieces of luggage, on the day the terminal opened the entire system crashed. In the ten days that followed, more than 500 flights were cancelled and 42,000 bags didn’t travel with their owners. Many factors were blamed, with one of the major issues being the lack of testing ‘real life’ scenarios, such as bags being retrieved for passengers forgetting important items. This is a perfect example of testing failing to reproduce the ‘real life’ conditions systems face when released into the world.

To read about two other extreme software failures, and to learn how to avoid making the list, click here to read the full article.