Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered all domestic flights in the United States to remain on the ground until 9 am (Eastern Time)as the system that provides pilots with notices to read before taking off is experiencing an outage.
The The association representing US airlines, Airlines for America, said the disruption is “causing significant operational delays.”as published by CNN.
All flights currently in the sky are safe to land. Pilots check the NOTAM system before they fly. A Notice to Air Missions alerts pilots about closed runways, equipment outages, and other potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the flight.
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023
The The latest data from flight tracking site FlightAware shows that there are more than 4,000 flight delays across the country.
“The FAA is still working to fully restore the Air Mission Alert system following an outage,” the agency said in an update statement.
“The FAA has directed airlines to halt all domestic departures until 9 a.m. Eastern time to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.”
Most of the delays were concentrated along the east coast, but they began to spread to the west.
Incoming international flights to Miami International Airport continued to land, but all departures have been delayed since 6:30 a.m., airport spokesman Greg Chin said.
The FAA said it was working to restore its Air Mission Notification System.
An FAA computer glitch is affecting flights across the country, causing delays and threatening a possible nationwide grounding.
“We are running final validation checks and reloading the system now,” the FAA said. “Operations throughout the National Airspace System will be affected.”
The agency said some functions are starting to come back online, but that “National Airspace System operations remain limited.”
The White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that President Joe Biden has been briefed and that “there is no evidence of a cyberattack at this time.”
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a tweet that he is in contact with the FAA and is monitoring the situation.
United Airlines said it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights and would issue an update once it learned more from the FAA.
Before beginning a flight, pilots should refer to NOTAMs, or Notices to Air Missions, which list potential adverse impacts on flights, from runway construction to the possibility of icing.
The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots calling dedicated flight service stations for information, but has now moved online.
There is a possibility of a widespread outage due to the outage. All aircraft must route through the system, including commercial and military flights.
European flights to the US appeared to be largely unaffected. The FAA said it would provide frequent updates as the situation progressed.
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