All U.S. domestic flights suspended due to NOTAM system outage

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that all air operations in U.S. airspace are affected by the failure of the NOTAM (Notice to Air Mission) system, which informs aircrews and all operations-related personnel of key flight safety issues.

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According to a post made on its Twitter account at 6:29 AM Eastern Time (11:29 AM GMT), final validation checks were being performed and the system was being reloaded.

«We will provide frequent updates as we move forward,» they concluded.

At 6:57 AM ET (11.57 AM GMT) the FAA updated the status update reporting that «while some functions are beginning to come back online, National Airspace System operations remain limited.»

At 7:19 AM ET (12:29 PM GMT) they confirmed the order to all airlines to suspend domestic flight departures until 9:00 AM EST (2:00 PM GMT) «to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.»

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They also stated that «all flights currently in the sky are safe to land. Pilots check the NOTAM system before they fly».

At 8:15 AM ET (1:15 PM GMT) the FAA reported that «is making progress in restoring its NOTAM system» and that departures are being resumed at Newark Liberty (EWR) and Atlanta (ATL) airports due to air traffic congestion in those areas. At all other airports, 9:00 AM ET remains the estimated resumption time.

At 8:50 AM ET (1:50 PM GMT) the FAA updated the status reporting that the departurea suspension was lifted and air operations are gradually resuming in the United States while they continue to investigate the cause of the initial problem.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said this morning that President Joe Biden has been briefed by the Secretary of Transportation on the NOTAM system outage, clarifying that at this time there is no evidence that it was the result of a cyberattack, although the Department of Transportation was instructed to conduct a full investigation into the matter.

Data obtained through Cirium indicates that 19,621 domestic flights are scheduled for this Wednesday in the United States, representing an offer of 2,547,394 seats. Considering an average load factor of 80%, this means that around 2 million passengers could be affected by the disruption caused by the NOTAM system outage.

International flights number only 1,843, but so far have not been impacted.

A NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) is a notice issued by a government agency to inform pilots of potential hazards along a flight route or at a location that could affect the safety of the flight.

NOTAMs are issued for a variety of reasons, such as to inform pilots of closed or changed runways, temporary flight restrictions, or the presence of hazardous conditions like severe weather.

NOTAMs are typically issued by air traffic control or other aviation authorities, and they can be valid for a specific period of time or until canceled by another NOTAM. Pilots are responsible for checking NOTAMs before a flight to ensure they are aware of any potential hazards.

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