 Screenshot of the FAA's NOTAM search web application, taken on January 11, 2023 | |
| Date | January 11, 2023; 23 months ago (2023-01-11) |
|---|---|
| Duration | 11 hours and 50 minutes |
| Location | Across the United States |
| Cause | NOTAM system failure due to accidental file deletion |
| Outcome | Suspension of all U.S. domestic flights |
On January 11, 2023, U.S. flights were grounded or delayed as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) attempted to fix a system outage. FAA paused all flight departures between 7:30 a.m. and 9 a.m. ET. Flights already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations. Around 8:30 am. ET, flights were beginning to resume departures. The outage was the first time since September 11, 2001, that the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop in the United States.
A preliminary investigation of the incident demonstrated to FAA investigators that a "damaged database file" may have caused the outage of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system, responsible for notifying pilots of safety hazards. The FAA told CNN that there was "no evidence of a cyberattack" on its NOTAM system.
Incident
On January 10, 2023, NOTAM system stopped processing updates at 3:28 p.m. ET, and FAA issued the first Air Traffic Control System Command Center Advisory about this incident at 7:47 p.m. ET.
At 7:30 a.m. ET on January 11, the FAA ordered airlines to pause all domestic departures after its pilot-alerting Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system went offline overnight, causing extensive disruption. Around 8:30 a.m. ET, flights were beginning to resume departures after the FAA terminated the NOTAM outage advisory, and departures at other airports were expected to resume by 9 am. ET. However, the airlines were free to implement their own ground delay programs subsequent to the ground stop being lifted, potentially leading to further timetable issues.
Aftermath
A total of 32,578 flights were delayed within, into or out of the United States as of 8:07 a.m. ET, and another 409 within, into or out of the country were also canceled.
After the incident, shares of U.S. carriers fell in the premarket trading: Southwest Airlines was down 2.4%, while Delta Air Lines Inc, United Airlines and American Airlines were down about 1%.
Delta Air Lines reported that it had a working backup to the FAA system, but decided not to use it. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian stated that they didn't use the backup system "out of deference" to the FAA and allowing the FAA to make the decisions.
The FAA adopted new procedures for maintenance of the NOTAM system to prevent future outages.
Investigation
On January 13, 2023, the FAA stated that preliminary analysis of the outage indicates that it was caused by the failure of FAA personnel to follow proper procedures. The incident happened during routine scheduled maintenance. According to the FAA, one engineer mistakenly "replaced one file with another", not realizing that a mistake had been made. FAA officials stated that it was an "honest mistake that cost the country millions." It was later determined that the contractor from Spatial Front, Inc. unintentionally deleted files while "working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database."
Reactions
President Joe Biden was briefed on the FAA system outage. The White House said there was no evidence of a cyberattack in relation to the system outage, but the president has asked for an investigation.
House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) and Rick Larsen (D-WA) stated that the committee intended to conduct vigorous oversight of the Department of Transportation's plan to prevent such disruption from happening again. A group of more than 120 U.S lawmakers also told the FAA that such incidents were "completely unacceptable."
See also
- 2023 Philippine airspace closure, a similar incident that occurred ten days prior.
References
- ^ Shepardson, David; Singh, Rajesh Kumar; Ganapavaram, Abhijith (January 11, 2023). "U.S. flights beginning to resume after FAA system outage". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Muntean, Pete; Wallace, Gregory (January 11, 2023). "Flight departures halted across the United States due to FAA system outage". CNN. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- Liles, Jordan (January 11, 2023). "Was 2023 the First Time Since 9/11 that the FAA Grounded All US Flights?". Snopes. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Wallace, Gregory; Muntean, Pete (January 11, 2023). "A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage. It was also found in the backup system". CNN. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "ATCSCC ADVZY 004 DCC 01/11/2023 NOTAM OUTAGE HOTLINE_FYI". Federal Aviation Administration. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "ATCSCC ADVZY 006 DCC 01/11/2023 NOTAM SYSTEM EQUIPMENT OUTAGE_FYI". Federal Aviation Administration. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 18 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
- "ATCSCC ADVZY 030 DCC 01/11/2023 NOTAM OUTAGE HOTLINE_FYI". Federal Aviation Administration. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
- Wallace, Gregory (13 January 2023). "Delta decided against using 'fairly old' backup system during FAA outage". CNN Business. Archived from the original on 15 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
We probably had a little better opportunity to fly during this stoppage as compared to anyone else," Bastian told reporters on a conference call. "But out of deference to the FAA and making certain that we gave them the ability to make the decisions, we didn't utilize that backup system.
- Shepardson, David (January 30, 2023). "U.S. FAA adopts new safeguards after computer outage halted flights". Reuters. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- Musto, Julia (13 January 2023). "FAA outage caused by personnel who 'failed to follow procedures'". Fox Business. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Sweeney, Sam; Haworth, Jon; Shalvey, Kevin; Deliso, Meredith; Margolin, Josh (12 January 2023). "Software maintenance mistake at center of major FAA computer meltdown: Official". ABC News. Archived from the original on 13 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- Rokus, Brian (19 January 2023). "FAA says unintentionally deleted files are to blame for nationwide ground stop". CNN Business. Archived from the original on 20 January 2023. Retrieved 20 January 2023.
A contractor working for the Federal Aviation Administration unintentionally deleted files related to a key pilot safety system, leading to a nationwide ground stop and thousands of delayed and canceled flights last week, the FAA said Thursday. The FAA determined the issue with the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system occurred when the contractor was "working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database."
- Holland, Steve; Chiacu, Doina (11 January 2023). Heavens, Andrew (ed.). "U.S. investigating FAA outage, cause not clear, Biden says". Reuters. Washington. Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
President Joe Biden has ordered an investigation into an FAA system outage that grounded flights across the country Wednesday morning and said the cause of the failure was unknown.
- ^ Shepardson, David (13 January 2023). "U.S. lawmakers call FAA outage 'unacceptable,' demand a fix". Reuters. Washington. Archived from the original on 17 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
House Transportation Committee Chair Sam Graves and the top Democrat on the panel Rick Larsen said in a Friday letter from committee and other House colleagues to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that they intend to "conduct vigorous oversight of the Department of Transportation's plan to prevent these disruptions from occurring again."