One Manhattan power room took down FAA air traffic control in 1991

A single power room in Manhattan was responsible for taking down the FAA's air traffic control system in 1991. The room, located at 33 Thomas Street, was a major hub for the National Security Agency's (NSA) communications network. The NSA's mainframe computer, called the 'TSP', was moved to this room in 1985, allowing the agency to intercept and decode international communications. The TSP was a massive system that used 3,600 computers and had 200 miles of cable. The power room's failure caused a cascade of failures, taking down the FAA's air traffic control system, which was located in a nearby building. The FAA's system was not designed to handle the NSA's high power demands, and the power room's failure caused a large spike in power consumption that overloaded the FAA's system.