True. I don't want to downplay the actual cost (or, worse, suggest that we should accept "the system worked as intended" excuses), but it's not just that there

True. I don't want to downplay the actual cost (or, worse, suggest that we should accept "the system worked as intended" excuses), but it's not just that there were no crashes: the air traffic itself remained under control throughout the event. Compare this to, for example, the financial "flash crash" of 2010, or the nuclear 'excursions' at Fukushima / Chernobyl / Three Mile Island / Windscale, where those nominally in control were reduced to being passive observers. It also serves as a reminder of how far we have to go before we can automate away the jobs of pilots and air traffic controllers.