Multiple reports tell us that regulators halted all flights in the United States on Wednesday, Jan. 11, due to a failure in the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Notice to Air Missions (Notam) system, which is a key pilot notification system.
The Notam system is crucial for flight operations as it conveys urgent advisory information to airlines in real time for flight planning.
System Failure Leads to Delayed Flights
As a result of the system failure, all airlines were ordered to delay departures until 9:00 a.m. ET time to allow the FAA to "validate the integrity of flight and safety information," according to an FAA tweet.
Bloomberg reports that this disruption caused numerous delays for passengers flying domestically, with United Airlines Holdings Inc. announcing that it would temporarily ground flights to all destinations.
As of 7:22 a.m., New York time, there were 1,230 delays for US flights, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware, a figure that is likely to rise as the day unfolds. US airline association, Airlines for America, has been notified of the disruptions and is working with the FAA to resolve the issues.
According to NewsNationNow, the FAA is making progress in restoring its NOTAM system, and departures at Newark Liberty International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport have resumed due to air traffic congestion in those areas. All other airport departures are expected to continue at 9:00 a.m. ET.
White House Notified
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Twitter that President Biden had been briefed by the Secretary of Transportation on the FAA system outage that occurred earlier on Wednesday.
The Press Secretary assured that there is currently no evidence of a cyberattack. Still, the President has directed the Department of Transportation to investigate the outage thoroughly. The FAA will reportedly provide regular updates on the situation. The outage caused the suspension of all flights in the US and caused severe delays.
Reports tell us that the cause of the nationwide FAA system outage that led to the halting of all flights in the United States earlier today is still undetermined.
Despite this, the FAA and President Biden have assured the public that all flights currently in the sky are safe to land, with the FAA stating that the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system is checked by pilots before they fly. The FAA has announced that they are investigating the cause of the outage and will provide updates.
American Airlines and Delta Airlines also issued statements, noting that they are closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize disruption to their operations and customers.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is experiencing a nationwide system outage that affects all airlines. We're closely monitoring the situation and working with the FAA to minimize customer disruptions.
— americanair (@AmericanAir) January 11, 2023
As a result, many people took to social media to vent about the FAA's system outage. Twitter was filled with complaints from stranded passengers, with some venting their rage over flight delays, lost time, and poor communication from airport authorities.
Latest Updates
Here is the latest development from FAA:
Update 5: Normal air traffic operations are resuming gradually across the U.S. following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety info to flight crews. The ground stop has been lifted.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023
We continue to look into the cause of the initial problem
Stay posted here at Tech Times.
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