In “The Evening Edit,” aviation expert Mike Boyd slams the FAA’s and transportation officials’ response to the recent outage.
The first nationwide accident occurred after a computer outage at a critical Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) computer system. The House of Representatives is poised to take up bipartisan legislation to reform the system since the September 11 attacks wreaked havoc on domestic flight schedules earlier this month.
The FAA’s Air Mission Notification (NOTAM) system crashed on Wednesday, Jan. 11, causing cancellations and delays across the United States after an outage reportedly caused by a mistake during routine system maintenance. and 11,000 flights were canceled. The NOTAM system is an important tool for alerting pilots and other personnel to unusual airborne problems and airport delays that could affect flight plans or create safety hazards, but the FAA The latest budget request describes the system as “an outdated hardware failure”. .
Members of the House are expected to get a chance this week to vote on a bipartisan bill that seeks to fix the NOTAM system. The NOTAM Improvements Act, co-funded by the Democratic Party of California, establishes a bipartisan task force to consider ways to present NOTAMs to pilots in addition to relevant regulations. policy. Once the task force has completed its review, it will provide recommendations on best practices to optimize the pilot’s ability to review and retain relevant information.
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Travelers wait at the terminal as an Alaska Airlines plane parks at the gates of Los Angeles International Airport on January 11, 2023 in Los Angeles. (AFP/Getty Images via Stephanie Reynolds/Getty Images)
The Task Force will bring together airlines, airports, airline pilot unions, unions representing FAA air traffic controllers, information professionals, general and business aviation, aviation safety, human factors, and computer systems.
In a press release, Stauber said the outage demonstrated the “urgent need for updates and improvements” to the NOTAM system to “keep air traffic moving safely in our skies.” I was.
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Chicago’s Steve Gasser looks at a flight information screen at Chicago’s Midway Airport (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Newsroom)
“When I was on the House Transportation Infrastructure Committee, I heard from many pilots who expressed concern about the NOTAM system, which is why yesterday’s news wasn’t surprising.” My legislation must be passed quickly to find ways to make it work better for both of us and to increase the Federal Aviation Administration’s oversight in the future to avoid future problems.”
Earlier versions of the NOTAM Improvements Act passed the House in bipartisan votes in both the 116th and 117th Congresses, but neither made it past the Senate to reach the President’s desk. .
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Passengers wait to depart Chicago’s Midway Airport on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, as flight delays caused by a Federal Aviation Administration computer outage halted flights across the United States. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Newsroom)
The FAA’s initial investigation found that the contractor “unintentionally deleted files” while working to “fix the synchronization between the live primary database and the backup database.” As a result, the NOTAM system was disrupted, and the FAA said it “has found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent.”
Following the outage, the FAA implemented safeguards, such as a staggered update process, to isolate the problem on one database before it spread to another database. The agency also requires two people to be present when routine maintenance is performed.
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According to Reuters, sources say the FAA plans to convert the NOTAM system into a cloud-based virtual platform.
A group of more than 120 lawmakers told the FAA that the suspension was “totally unacceptable” and asked for clarification on how to avoid such incidents in the future. Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nollen briefed congressional officials on the matter on Friday, and FAA officials plan to hold a briefing for members of the House of Representatives this week.
NOTAMS stood for Notice to Airmen until December 2021, when the Biden administration changed it to Notice to Air Mission.
Reuters contributed to this report.
