Port Hedland International Airport managed to avoid the global outage caused by CrowdStrike on July 19, thanks to its newly installed, diverse IT system. This regional airport’s resilience has prompted its shareholders to request a comprehensive report on all backups to ensure continued protection against similar disruptions in the future.

While the world grappled with server reconnections and delayed travelers during the massive internet outage last month, Western Australia’s Port Hedland International Airport operated smoothly. On Friday, July 19, at around 3pm AEST, a bad software update from the US-based cybersecurity company CrowdStrike triggered a global IT outage. This incident affected banks, airlines, media companies, supermarkets, and government agencies worldwide.

However, about 1,600 kilometers north of Perth, the staff at the Pilbara town’s airport—a crucial FIFO hub—were unaware of the unfolding tech crisis. Chief Executive David Batic explained that the airport’s recent terminal redevelopment included the installation of new, diverse IT systems.

“It was an additional cloud; apparently, we switched to a German-based system,” he said. “We wouldn’t have thought that a worldwide outage was possible, but as it turned out, the system we had in place actually addressed that issue.”

The first sign of trouble globally was noticed by the airport’s accountant, Rex Fleay, who was visiting from Perth. He encountered issues with his invoicing system that morning.

“I checked our email and saw correspondence from the accounting software provider saying it was down and they were working on fixing it,” Mr. Fleay said. “Within half an hour, it was pretty obvious that something significant had gone wrong because we just couldn’t log into anything.”