Travelers wait at a gate at Los Angeles International Airport on January 11, 2023. Photo: AFP
The fall in a United States Federal Aviation Administration key system (FAA), the agency that oversees civil aviation, wreaked havoc at airports and grounded flights across the country – some were even forced to land – this Wednesday morning, according to local media reports.
After hours of delays, cancellations and chaos at the airports, air traffic gradually picked up speed again. across the country and the restriction that forced all aircraft to stay on the mainland was lifted.
“Following an overnight outage of the Notice to Air Missions system, which provides flight crews with safety information, normal flight operations in the US are gradually resuming. The order to stay on the ground was lifted. We are still investigating the cause of the initial problem‘ the FAA wrote in its latest Twitter update.
Previously, some flights had to land before reaching their destination due to a crash in the Air Mission Notification System (Notam), which is responsible for relaying messages about risks and restrictions from the base to the pilots in real time.
More than 700 flights within, to and from the United States have been listed as delayed and more than 90 as cancelled., according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company, around 6:30 a.m. Eastern Time (8:30 a.m. in Argentina). All aircraft must operate routes through the Notam, including commercial and military flights.
“The FAA continues to work to fully restore the Air Mission Notification System following an outage. The FAA has ordered airlines to pause all domestic flights until 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.The agency had previously reported this on Twitter.
From the US Federal Aviation Administration, they reported that their Air Mission Notices System was suffering from operational problems. Photo: AFP
The first games to resume were those of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, the largest airline hub in the world and the Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, another of the busiest airports in the United States, handling more than 30 million passengers a year.
“The FAA is making progress in restoring its Air Mission Advisory system after an overnight outage. Departures at @EWRairport and @ATLairport will resume due to flight congestion in those areas. We expect departures from other airports to resume at 9 a.m. ET,” he said on Twitter.
Released Update #2 for All Contributors: ⁰⁰The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. ⁰⁰While some functions are beginning to come back online, operations of the National Airspace System remain limited.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023
The FAA had reported the issue through a statement released in the early hours of this Wednesday: “The FAA is experiencing a disruption affecting the updating of Notams. No flight can depart at this time.”
This was announced by the White House President Joe Biden was already aware of the situation and ruled out a cyber attack for the time beingalthough he ordered the Department of Transportation to open an investigation.
“The Secretary of Transportation notified the President this morning of the disruption to the FAA system. At the moment there is no evidence that it was a cyber attack, but the President has ordered the Department of Transportation to fully investigate the causes. The FAA will provide regular updates,” Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, wrote on Twitter.
The President was briefed by the Secretary of Transportation this morning of the FAA system failure. At this time there is no evidence of a cyber attack, but the President directed the DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes. The FAA will provide updates periodically.
—Karine Jean-Pierre (@PressSec) January 11, 2023
By your side, United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg reported via his Twitter account that he had contacted the FAA and that the company was working to resolve the issue.
“I contacted the FAA this morning regarding an outage affecting a key system used to provide safety information to pilots. The FAA is working to resolve this issue quickly and safely so air travel can resume normal operations and will continue to provide updates,” he said.
I contacted the FAA this morning regarding an outage affecting a key system used to provide safety information to pilots. The FAA is working to resolve this issue quickly and safely so air travel can resume normal operations and will continue to provide updates.
— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) January 11, 2023
The air Line United Airlines has suspended all domestic flights until further notice, as reported on his Twitter account. “The FAA system that broadcasts significant risks and flight restrictions in real time to all commercial airline pilots – Notice to Aire Mission (Notam) – is currently experiencing a nationwide outage. United has temporarily suspended all domestic flights and will provide an update when we hear more from the FAA,” the company wrote.
For his part American Airlines said in a statement that it is monitor the situation closelyaffecting all airlines and working with the FAA to minimize disruption to our operations and customers.”
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport (AUS) in Texas tweeted: “An FAA system outage is causing landings at AUS and other airports across the country. Arriving and departing passengers should expect delays this morning and throughout the day.”
Notams used to be available through a hotline, but that was phased out with the internet. The alerts range from information about airport construction to urgent flight restrictions or crashed equipment.
Pilot Jim Schilling told BN9 that he had never experienced an episode of this magnitude in his 30-year career.
Meanwhile, several airports outside the United States said operations were continuing as normal. “As far as we know, we are currently still operating to/from the United States”said a spokesman for London’s Gatwick Airport.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the airport Frankfurt in Germany said the FAA blackout did not affect its operations. Germany’s Lufthansa and Air France said they would continue to operate flights to and from the United States, while the French carrier added that it was monitoring the situation.
In total 21,464 flights are scheduled to depart from US airports on Wednesday with a capacity of nearly 2.9 million passengers, according to Cirium data. American Airlines has the most departures from US airports with 4,819 scheduled flights, followed by Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines, Cirium data showed.
US airline stocks fell in premarket trading on Wednesday. Southwest Airlines lost 2.4%, while Delta Air Lines Inc, United Airlines and American Airlines lost around 1%.
(With agency information)