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A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 12 January 2023

Air travel across U.S. thrown into chaos after computer outage

From Front significant historically," said
Tim Campbell, a former
By DAVID KOENIG and senior vice president of air
MICHELLE CHAPMAN operations at American Air-
AP Business Writer lines and now a consultant
NEW YORK (AP) — Planes in Minneapolis.
were stuck on the ground Campbell said there has
for hours across the Unit- long been concern about
ed States on Wednesday, the FAA's technology, and
leading to thousands of not just the NOTAM system.
canceled and delayed "So much of their systems
flights after a government are old mainframe systems
system used to give pilots that are generally reliable
safety and other informa- but they are out of date,"
tion broke down overnight. he said.
The White House initially John Cox, a former airline
said that there was no evi- pilot and aviation safety
dence of a cyberattack expert, said there has been
behind the outage that ru- talk in the aviation industry
ined travel plans for millions for years about trying to
of passengers. President modernize the NOTAM sys-
Joe Biden said Wednesday tem, but he did not know
morning that he directed the age of the servers that
the Department of Trans- Passenger jets on the tarmac at Logan International Airport, Jan. 11, 2023, in Boston. Thousands of the FAA uses.
portation to investigate. flight delays and cancellations rippled across the U.S. early Wednesday after computer outage "I've been flying 53 years.
led to a grounding order by the Federal Aviation Administration.
The outage showed how Associated Press I've never heard the system
dependent the world's go down like this," Cox said.
largest economy is on air formation, but has moved domestic trips, and about be lifted at 9 this morning, "So something unusual hap-
travel, and how much air online. The NOTAM system 1,840 international flights but through the day we're pened."
travel depends on an an- broke down late Tuesday expected to fly to the U.S., going to see the effects of According to FAA advi-
tiquated computer system and was not fixed until 9 according to aviation data that rippling through the sories, the NOTAM system
to generate alerts called a.m. Eastern on Wednes- firm Cirium. system." failed at 8:28 p.m. Eastern
NOTAMs — or Notice to day, leading to about Airports in Chicago, Los Buttigieg said his agency on Tuesday preventing
Air Missions — to pilots and 1,200 flight cancelations Angeles, New York and At- was now turning to under- new or amended notices
others. and more than 7,800 de- lanta were seeing between stand what caused the from being distributed to
Before a flight takes off, pi- lays by early afternoon on 30% and 40% of flights de- NOTAM system to go down. pilots. The FAA resorted to a
lots and airline dispatchers the East Coast, according layed. Longtime aviation insiders telephone hotline to keep
must review the notices, to flight-tracking website "There was a systems is- could not recall an outage departures flying over-
which include informa- FlightAware. sue overnight that led to of such magnitude caused night, but as daytime traffic
tion about weather, run- Even after the Federal a ground stop because by a technology break- picked up it overwhelmed
way closures or construc- Aviation Administration of the way safety informa- down. Some compared the telephone backup sys-
tion and other information lifted the order ground- tion was moving through it to the nationwide shut- tem.
that could affect the flight. ing planes, the chaos was the system," Transportation down of airspace after the The FAA ordered all de-
The system was once tele- expected to linger. More Secretary Pete Buttigieg terror attacks of September parting flights grounded
phone-based, with pilots than 21,000 flights were said at a press conference. 2001. "Periodically there early Wednesday morning,
calling dedicated flight scheduled to take off in "That was resolved, which have been local issues here affecting all passenger and
service stations for the in- the U.S. Wednesday, mostly allowed the ground stop to or there, but this is pretty shipping flights.q

White House: Jill Biden surgery on

lesion 'proceeding well'

according to her office. ing a recent routine skin examining them until there
The first lady and Presi- cancer screening. She was are no signs of cancer. The
dent Joe Biden remained to have a "common out- procedure takes less than
at Walter Reed National patient procedure known four hours for most people,
Military Medical Center in as Mohs surgery to remove and they can go home af-
Bethesda, Maryland, as of and definitively examine terward.
midafternoon. They had the tissue," said Dr. Kevin Doctors recommended
arrived by helicopter at O'Connor, the president's removing the lesion from
about 8 a.m. physician, in a Jan. 4 memo the 71-year-old first lady
First lady Jill Biden walks out of the White House in Washington, The update from Jill Biden's that the first lady's office re- "in an abundance of cau-
Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023, as she and President Joe Biden office came after she had leased last week. tion," O'Connor wrote in the
prepare to board Marine One. been at the hospital for That surgery involves cut- memo.
Associated Press about six hours. A further ting away thin layers of skin The Skin Cancer Founda-
update was expected af- and examining each layer tion said the delicate skin
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE day to remove a potential- ter the surgery. for signs of cancer, accord- around the eyes is espe-
Associated Press ly cancerous lesion above Her office announced a ing to a fact sheet from the cially vulnerable to dam-
WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill her right eye was "proceed- week ago that doctors had Mayo Clinic. Doctors keep age from the sun's ultravio-
Biden 's surgery Wednes- ing well and as expected," discovered the lesion dur- removing layers of skin and let rays.q