Passengers on social media reported flight delays and outages in the US (figurative)
New Delhi:
Flights across the United States were affected by a technical failure with a computer system in unprecedented disruption on Wednesday. All flights in the US were grounded after an issue in the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, which provides information to flight crews about hazards, changes to airport facilities and other essential information.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said normal air traffic operations are gradually resuming across the country. “Normal air traffic operations are gradually resuming in the United States,” the FAA said on Twitter. “The ground stop has been lifted. We are continuing to investigate the cause of the initial problem.”
It had previously asked airlines to pause all domestic departures until 9 am ET, and is working to restore a system that alerts pilots to hazards and changes to airport facilities and procedures that they had stopped processing updated information.
Update 5: Normal air traffic operations are gradually resuming in the US following an overnight outage to the Notice to Air Missions system that provides safety information to flight crews. Ground stop has been lifted.
We are still investigating the cause of the initial problem
— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023
Flight-tracking website FlightAware reported that about 5,400 flights within, to, or from the United States had been delayed as of 7 a.m. US Eastern Time. An additional 900 flights were also cancelled.
In a notice, the civil aviation regulator said its NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system had “failed.” There was no immediate estimate of when it would return, the website showed, although NOTAMs issued before the outage could still be seen.
Passengers on social media reported flight delays and outages across the United States, from Hawaii to Washington. Airports from Texas to Pennsylvania confirmed that flights were affected across the country, according to The Washington Post.
Aviation expert Parvez Damania called it a “shocking and unprecedented situation.” “I can’t remember the last time all the airspace in the country was closed. Maybe during 9/11. This is going to cause incredible disruption,” he told NDTV by phone.
(With agency contributions)
