FAA Cites Personnel Failure in System Outage That Halted Flights
The FAA’s system outage has drawn new attention to the technology that underpins daily flights in the U.S.
Photo:
saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration said its preliminary investigation into a nationwide flight disruption this week found that it was the result of actions by personnel who failed to follow procedures.
A breakdown in the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions, or Notam pilot-alert system, led the agency to halt all domestic departures for nearly two hours early Wednesday, snarling thousands of flights and contributing to around 1,300 cancellations. The agency said late Thursday that the Notam system was functioning normally.
The FAA said in a statement Thursday that the outage was the result of damage to a data file by the personnel.
The agency hasn’t determined whether the actions of the workers, who were contractors, were inadvertent or intentional, people familiar with the matter said.
Biden administration officials and cybersecurity experts have said that the FAA’s system outage didn’t appear to be the result of a cyberattack, though the White House has said an investigation would be conducted.
“We need to make sure that there are enough safeguards built into the system that this level of disruption can’t happen because of an individual person’s decision or action or mistake,” Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg
told NBC News on Thursday.
The outage has drawn attention to the technology that underpins daily flights in the U.S. For years, aviation regulators, elected officials and others have pushed for the FAA to update systems, and the Transportation Department’s most recent budget request for the FAA called the Notam system “failing vintage hardware” that requires replacement.
While the system has been updated, current and former government officials said it is largely based on technology that is about 30 years old.
Write to Andrew Tangel at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
The FAA’s system outage has drawn new attention to the technology that underpins daily flights in the U.S.
Photo:
saul loeb/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration said its preliminary investigation into a nationwide flight disruption this week found that it was the result of actions by personnel who failed to follow procedures.
A breakdown in the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions, or Notam pilot-alert system, led the agency to halt all domestic departures for nearly two hours early Wednesday, snarling thousands of flights and contributing to around 1,300 cancellations. The agency said late Thursday that the Notam system was functioning normally.
The FAA said in a statement Thursday that the outage was the result of damage to a data file by the personnel.
The agency hasn’t determined whether the actions of the workers, who were contractors, were inadvertent or intentional, people familiar with the matter said.
Biden administration officials and cybersecurity experts have said that the FAA’s system outage didn’t appear to be the result of a cyberattack, though the White House has said an investigation would be conducted.
“We need to make sure that there are enough safeguards built into the system that this level of disruption can’t happen because of an individual person’s decision or action or mistake,” Transportation Secretary
Pete Buttigieg
told NBC News on Thursday.
The outage has drawn attention to the technology that underpins daily flights in the U.S. For years, aviation regulators, elected officials and others have pushed for the FAA to update systems, and the Transportation Department’s most recent budget request for the FAA called the Notam system “failing vintage hardware” that requires replacement.
While the system has been updated, current and former government officials said it is largely based on technology that is about 30 years old.
Write to Andrew Tangel at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Denial of responsibility! Techno Blender is an automatic aggregator of the all world’s media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.