After two Federal Aviation Administration contractors damaged an agency database, oddities started appearing in the technological tools that pilots — including those in the U.S. military — use to fly around the country safely.
One of the systems, the Defense Internet NOTAM Service , usually includes a stream of FAA alerts on potential flight hazards. But by early Wednesday morning, those FAA Notices to Air Missions started appearing to military pilots with duplicate numbers — or not at all. The ability for military users to retrieve the FAA warnings via the system became “impaired and unreliable,” according to an FAA technical bulletin obtained by The Washington Post.
The disruption delayed almost 11,000 flights, led to cancellations of more than 1,300 more and raised questions about the reliability of the sometimes-antiquated computer systems meant to keep the nation’s skies safe for travelers. It also underscored the FAA’s continued struggles to fix known problems.In a bipartisan letter Friday to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Reps.
The FAA technical bulletin describes details of what it refers to as the “NAIMES Service Interruption,” using the acronym for National Airspace System Aeronautical Information Management Enterprise System. “Pilots can contact airport and military airfield towers and other FAA air traffic en route centers for NOTAM information if necessary,” the FAA said in a statement.
Aiken said the FAA’s reliance on outside contractors can create communications challenges between government and outside employees responsible for systems upkeep, and noted that federal agencies such as the FAA are struggling to upgrade their legacy systems.
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