Flights resume after computer outage forced FAA to ground aircraft

Normal air traffic operations are “resuming gradually across the US” hours after a computer outage forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground flights. In a post on social media, the FAA announced it is making progress in restoring its Notice to Air Missions system.

Departures initially resumed at Newark Liberty International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport due to “air traffic concretion in those areas,” the agency stated, followed by other airports across America.

While flights are resuming, it’s been suggested that flights in the US won’t return to normal until Thursday or Friday due to the outage causing delays or cancellations that have a knock-on effect on other services.

Read more: All flights across the US grounded over computer outage

The White House announced that there was “no evidence of a cyberattack at this point” but did say there would be a full investigation conducted by the Department of Transportation into the causes of the outage.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that he has been in touch with the FAA amid the outage, reassuring Americans that the agency “is working to resolve this issue swiftly and safely so that air traffic can resume normal operations.”

Read more: “No evidence of a cyberattack” after FAA grounds all US flights over computer outage – White House

Despite the disruption, the FAA reassured travellers that all flights currently in the sky were safe to land, as pilots would have checked the NOTAM system, used to alert pilots about potential hazards on their route, prior to departure.

According to flight tracking website FlightAware, 3,704 flights were delayed leaving or entering the United States as of 8:30am ET on Wednesday. 642 flights have been cancelled.