Google Glitch in Flight Service Included World Trade Center

Surfboards lean against a wall at the Google office in Santa Monica, California. (REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Google removed an unfortunate glitch in its newly-launched Flight Search service Wednesday that included the World Trade Center in a list of airports.

The Twin Towers were once listed as a destination for aircraft because they boasted a helipad. However, the landing spot was closed in 1984, well before the buildings were destroyed on 9/11.

Despite the information being outdated and inaccurate it was still listed this week on a list of airports on Google's flight search service, albeit marked "unavailable," alongside John F. Kennedy International, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty International.

The mistake was spotted by a user who contacted an Australian newspaper, The Sydney Morning Herald.

The paper alerted Google to the gaffe and by 11:00 a.m. EDT Wednesday the Flight Search feature did not show the World Trade Center as a destination.

"Our intention with Flight Search is to provide information only about active airports," a Google spokeswoman told The Sydney Morning Herald.

"We are removing the WTC code now that we're aware of it and we will look for other airports that need to come out as well."

The spokeswoman added that the Flight Search service -- which was launched Tuesday -- used International Air Transport Association and International Civil Aviation Organization codes to create its list of airports and heliports.

These codes remained in existence even after ports were decommissioned, and Google did not know the inactive codes were in the lists prior to the Flight Search service going live Tuesday, she said.

The launch of Flight Search was delayed after a nine-month investigation was initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice following Google's $700-million acquisition of the travel software firm ITA in April, AllThingsDigital reported Tuesday.

The Flight Search service is designed to help users sort through flight information and fares. Currently, the service offers flights only for a limited number of U.S. cities.