WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Senate Commerce Committee announced Wednesday that a panel will review the cause of the outage in the Federal Aviation Administration’s computer systems that caused a nationwide ground stop.
Thousands of U.S. flights were delayed or canceled Wednesday, according to FlightAware.
“We will investigate what caused this outage and what role redundancies might play in preventing future outages,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell. “People need a resilient air transportation system,” she said.
The ground stop was lifted shortly before 9:00 AM ET.
White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House had no evidence the outage was caused by a cyberattack. She added that she had instructed
The White House called the investigation “a top priority” but denied a lack of trust in the system.
“What you see today is because you were very careful,” said Jeannepierre. “The safety of Americans is our number one priority.”
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) feels no need to add new rules and regulations because Congress is still receiving reports of the NOTAM computer system failure, but officials said you need to figure out what. caused this problem.
“Incompetence is not an excuse to tighten regulations. We don’t add rules to the rulebook,” Scalise told NewsNation. “Frankly, I think the rules are already making it difficult for people to work, but some people aren’t for the job. That’s the problem we have now.”
He continued: We’re going to bring him in and ask him those questions. Frankly, I think many people across America are watching who are hurt by the incompetence of the US Department of Transportation. “
Biden addressed the FAA matter on Wednesday before leaving the White House to accompany his wife to a medical procedure at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington. said.
“I was on the phone with him for like 10 minutes,” Biden said. “I told him to report it directly to me if they find it. Air traffic can land safely, but we can’t take off right now. I don’t know what the cause is.”
In his speech at the 2023 Transportation Research Council on Wednesday, Buttigieg said it was “another challenging day for the U.S. aviation industry.”
“We are now focused on understanding the cause of the problem,” he said. “And the main thing I want everyone to understand is that, as always, safety will be our North Star at every step.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence said at the Indianapolis airport that he was one of the passengers waiting to come to Washington, D.C. that day. He called on the Biden administration and the Department of Transportation to give Americans an answer and demand that airlines have the necessary technology.
“To my knowledge, this is the first national groundstop since 9/11, and the American people are asking why it happened, what happened, and how to make sure this never happens. It’s worth knowing what is being done to ensure redundancy in the system.Again,” Pence told The Hill.
Republican Rep. Pat Fallon of Texas said he wanted to rule out cyberattacks of all kinds first. If this is a software glitch, he said more firewalls are needed to ensure fail-safe systems are in place to prevent this from happening again.
“We need to know, we need to look into it and give it due diligence to find out what the cause was,” he said. will tell the American public what the glitch was and what they plan to do to fix it.”
It’s the latest headache for U.S. travelers facing flight cancellations while on vacation amid winter storms, and a breakdown in Southwest Airlines’ staffing techniques.
South Carolina Rep. Nancy Mace (R) said a “serious conversation” was needed about technology and aviation after these incidents.
“We want to make sure our technology works, our technology is secure, our technology is secure,” she said. “We can’t let this continue, especially considering this is right after the Southwest Airlines debacle.”
If obsolete technology is a problem, Mace said he would like to hear Buttigieg say he and the FAA will come to Congress and outline the issue.
Fallon shared Mace’s feelings.
“In the 21st century, we really have to talk about software and computers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the American Travel Association is calling on lawmakers to “modernize” the country’s travel infrastructure.
“Today’s FAA’s catastrophic system failure is a clear demonstration that America’s transportation network is in dire need of a major upgrade. Americans deserve a seamless, safe, end-to-end travel experience. something,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the American Travel Association. “And our economy depends on a best-in-class air travel system. We urge federal policymakers to ensure our system can meet demand safely and efficiently. We are asking them to modernize their critical air travel infrastructure to make it possible.”
The FAA said it was working to restore notifications to air mission systems.
Before commencing a flight, pilots should refer to a NOTAM, or Notice to Air Mission, that lists potential adverse effects on flight, from runway construction to potential ice. The system used to be telephone-based, with pilots seeking information from a dedicated flight service station, but has now moved online.
NOTAM system failures seem to be rare.
The FAA has been without a permanent administrator since March 31st. Phil his Washington chief executive at Denver International Airport, who was picked by Biden to head the FAA, has yet to face a hearing by the Senate Commerce Committee.
Washington faces criticism from Republicans after being named in a search warrant linked to allegations of corruption at the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
Meanwhile, FAA approval is scheduled to expire on September 30. Lawmakers have regularly expanded the FAA’s legal powers before reaching an agreement on recognition, but the suspension could put pressure on Congress to take action.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
