Flights once again in the air
After the system the FAA uses to provide pilots with pre-flight safety notices failed overnight. Causing the agency to institute a nationwide ground stop briefly Wednesday morning. More than 8000 flights within, into, or out of the u-s delayed as of Wednesday afternoon and more than a thousand were cancelled.
The order was lifted shortly before 9 am Wednesday once the system was restored, but not before wreaking havoc on travelers itineraries
“It was supposed to be like 11, 12 when we landed and now it’s going to be two, and we’re missing the first wake for a funeral.”
Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigiege says the notice to air mission system is critical
“It is a standardized, uniform way for getting important safety messages out to airports, aircraft and airlines. For example, if a runway is closed//BUTT TO//or maybe a navigation beacon is out, something that a pilot would need to know. Very important, of course, for that information to be flowing efficiently.”
Though failures have been rare, Buttigieg says, the Department Of Transportation is launching an investigation into the system’s possible vulnerabilities
“That broader question is a real one what are the redundancies, what are the backups, what are the means to make sure that a disruption like this does not happen.”
For those flying Wednesday officials say delays are likely to continue throughout the day as airlines work to recover from the backlog.
