They were supposed to take four orbits of Earth over about six hours and then dock with the International Space Station for a six month stay but something went wrong with the booster.
“I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic, ” he said as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.
" All those substitutes for magic Muggles use - electricity, computers, and radar, and all those things - they all go haywire around Hogwarts, there's too much magic in the air. "
It's designed to make it easier for pilots to override the anti-stall system which is believed to have malfunctioned on the Lion Air flight which crashed last October.
Before his kidnapping, Uncle Slate determined that each of these critical failures was the ultimate result of a chain reaction originating in the thrusters.