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Thousands of passengers are facing a second day of headaches today due to an FAA computer system failure that led to a two-and-a-half hour ground stop yesterday, the first since 9/11.
The NOTAM system is now fixed after FAA officials found a corrupted file in its database.
The same corrupted file was also found on its backup system, prompting the FAA to impose a ground stop on all aircraft across the United States out of an abundance of caution.
Now, the flights have resumed but the hangover from the pause is clear; 577 flights have already been delayed and 74 cancelled.
Passengers exit a bus at Terminal 2 as they wait for the resumption of flights at O’Hare International Airport after the Federal Aviation Administration
That number is expected to rise throughout the day as airlines and airport staff scramble to make up for lost time yesterday.
As they work to appease frustrated passengers on the ground, the FAA, the Department of Transportation, and specifically Secretary Pete Buttigieg are faced with difficult questions about how the chaos could have happened in the first place.
Experts say it’s due to an outdated system, desperately in need of an overhaul, and ultimately crashed.
According to a source cited by CNN on Thursday, the problem was first detected at 3:00 pm on Tuesday.
FAA personnel eventually identified a corrupt file on the system that caused it to crash.
They have a backup system that was put in place, but the corrupted file was also found on that system.
In an effort to resolve the issue during the quieter flight period of the day, they rebooted the system.
But it took longer to get back online than expected, which ultimately led to the grounding, the source said.
The fact that the backup system also failed shows how outdated the DOT technology is.
Yesterday, Buttigieg said the incident would serve as a “data point” for the next budget.
But many blame him for the fiasco.
The grounding was the result of an overnight failure of its NOTAM system, which pilots use to access flight plans and communicate with air traffic control, and is used to warn other pilots of the dangers ahead. along flight paths, such as runway closures, equipment outages, and construction, temporarily halting flights.
FAA officials said a preliminary review traced the issue to a corrupted database file, but added there was no evidence of a cyberattack and the investigation was continuing.
More than 11,300 flights were delayed or canceled Wednesday in the first national grounding of domestic traffic in some two decades, since 9/11.
The same file corrupted both the main system and its backup, said people familiar with the patch, who asked not to be named.
US Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, a Democrat, said the panel would investigate. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz called the failure “completely unacceptable.”
“FAA modernization will be costly and will be paid for through a combination of air travel taxes that affect all airlines and efficiencies for the largest airlines,” brokerage Bernstein said in a note.
Arjun Garg, a former FAA senior counsel and acting deputy administrator, said it was premature to draw any conclusions about the event, but the agency was right to cancel flights if a safety system was not operational.
Garg, now a partner at the law firm Hogan Lovells, said the incident was a reminder that the FAA was bound by an annual allocation cycle, making it difficult to plan and execute major multi-year projects, such as control upgrades. of air traffic.
“The health of that agency and its ability to fulfill its mission are really important,” he said in an interview. It’s a high-profile affair.
The FAA has been without a permanent administrator since March.
The Senate has not held a hearing on President Joe Biden’s choice to head the agency, Denver International Airport CEO Phil Washington.
He was re-nominated last week.