1/12/23 - The FAA Computer Glitch Is Fixed, For Now

A computer glitch delayed airline traffic across much of the nation on Wednesday as a result of a damaged data based file.

 -Domestic flights across the United States were grounded Wednesday due to a computer system outage at the FAA.

Once restored, there were a number of delays and cancellations throughout the day.

Officials say the problem was an issue with the Notice to Air Missions (NOTSAM) system, which provides pilots with real-time information about changes and potential hazards on flight routes. They say there was a damaged file within the system due to a corrupted file that impacted the main system and the backup one.

The FAA said it was continuing to investigate the outage and “take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again.”

“Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyberattack,” the FAA said.

When air traffic control officials realized they had a computer issue late Tuesday, they decided to reboot the system. That led to massive flight delays and an order to stop all aircraft departures nationwide.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ordered an after-action review and also said there was “no direct evidence or indication” that the issue was a cyberattack.