delays reported
Major disruption to US air traffic control: domestic flights are suspended for hours
A major disruption has occurred at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
© Jacquelyn Martin/AP/DPA
Massive problems in air traffic are currently being reported in the USA, and planes are grounded nationwide. The reason is computer malfunctions, write US media.
A major disruption has occurred at the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The system that provides pilots and ground staff with information about disruptions in the flight process has failed, it says on the FAA website. Flights across the United States were affected Wednesday morning after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a computer failure.
Shortly thereafter, the FAA announced that no more domestic flights would take off nationwide until 3:00 p.m. German time in order to restore the accuracy of the flight and safety information. In the morning (local time) were according to the website flightaware.com more than 1100 flights within, to or from the USA were delayed, around 90 were canceled. United Airlines said it has temporarily suspended all domestic flights, as CNN reported. On Wednesday afternoon German time, several aircraft could still be seen in the airspace in the flight tracking service “Flightradar24”:
It wasn’t immediately clear if the system outage was a factor in the delays.
“Operations affected throughout the national airspace system”
“The FAA is working to restore the Notice to Air Missions System. We are currently conducting final validation checks and reloading the system. Operations across the national airspace system are affected. We will update you regularly on progress,” the agency wrote on Twitter .
A short time later, the FAA said: “While some functions are gradually being brought back into service, the operation of the national airspace system remains restricted.”
The US Federal Aviation Administration’s system, called the NOTAM system, was not processing updated information, the news outlet reports Reuters. A NOTAM is a notice containing information important to personnel involved in flight operations.
Due to the failure, there can be far-reaching impairments, writes the AP news agency. All aircraft must be routed through the system, including commercial and military flights.