Array
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM), made headlines early on Jan. 11 when the system went down, causing a nationwide grounding of flights in the United States.
The NOTAM system provides pilots and other aviation professionals with information about potential hazards or disruptions to flight operations. NOTAMs are used to communicate information about things like closed runways, airspace restrictions, and out-of-service navigation aids.
The early morning malfunction of NOTAMs caused an interruption in the service that offers real-time reports to pilots and others in the flight industry.
This prompted a nationwide ground stop to all flights in the morning hours of Jan. 11, which lasted about an hour-and-a-half before the FAA announced it was resuming flights at 8:50 a.m. (ET).
Problems with the FAA’s warning system are significant because of the impact it can have on air traffic.
A malfunction or outage of NOTAM systems causes the FAA to stop flights to ensure safety.
In the event of a ground stop, no flights are allowed to take off from a specific airport or group of airports.
Unfortunately for travelers, the outage caused a nationwide pause in air transportation, which is an infrequent occurrence.
National Public Radio’s report on the travel issues stated that this might be the first time the FAA has grounded all U.S. flights since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.How NOTAM Impacts Aviation
Eric Blinderman, the senior director of communications at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, told The Epoch Times that there is no backup for the NOTAM system that can be used in case of a long-term outage, which is part of what caused the recent ground stop.
