FAA Computer Issue Grounds Hundreds of Flights in Arizona and Across US

Wednesday morning, the Federal Aviation Administration is siting a computer outage for the delayed flights across the United States, which include travelers in Phoenix.

The FAA issued orders to airlines to hold off on all domestic departures until at least 7 a.m. Arizona time.

The issue is with the system responsible for sending out flight hazards and real time restrictions to pilots. It is called the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) and is a crucial communication line for pilots.

Phoenix Sky Harbor reported 12 canceled flights and 149 delayed at around 5:45 a.m. however the list continues to grow as the morning goes on.

As of 6:50 a.m. an update was released stating that normal air traffic operations were resuming gradually across the U.S. following the overnight outage to NOTAM. It is reported that the ground stop has been lifted.

The White House released a statement that President Biden had been briefed on the countrywide outage and that, “There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point.”

The president directed the Department of Transportation to conduct a full investigation into the cause.