The software that failed and forced the . FAA Federal Aviation Administration to ground thousands of flights . Wednesday is 30 years old and won’t be updated for another six years. According to a senior government official.
The system was installed in 1993 and runs the Notice to Air Mission System, or NOTAM. Which sends pilots important information they need to , the official said.
After the FAA was able to get the planes flying again, a government official said a malicious file. That affected both the primary and backup
. NOTAM systems appeared to be the culprit.
Inverstigatos are working to determine whether human error or malicious intent was. Responsible for bringing down the system, which eight contract employees had access to. At least one, two. Contractors made the edits that compromised the system, two government sources said Thursday.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told. NBC News that he told the FAA to “ensure that . The system has adequate safeguards in place so . That this level of disruption. Cannot occur because of a single person’s decision or action or mistake.”
President Joe Biden ordered the investigation Wednesday after being briefed by Buttigieg.
. FAA sent a tweet at 7:20 a.m. Wednesday ordering airlines to halt all domestic . Departures until 9 a.m. “to allow the agency to verify . The integrity of flight and safety information” as it worked to restore the NOTAM system.
The FAA lifted the ground stop around 8:50 a.m. and normal air traffic resumed. But by then airports across the country were already overwhelmed. With frustrated passengers and flight backlogs