Several news reports have confirmed that flights across the country have been delayed due to an FAA system outage.
The NOTAM system that alerts pilots to hazards and changes to airport facilities and procedures has stopped working, forcing all domestic departures to be delayed at least until 9 am EST or until the system is restored. The delay will allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information.
More than 760 flights were delayed within, into, or out of the United States as of Wednesday 6:30 am ET (1130 GMT), flight tracking website FlightAware showed, without citing reasons. Another 91 flights were canceled within, into, or out of the country.
“The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system following an outage. While some functions are beginning to come back on line, National Airspace System operations remain limited,” the FAA said on Twitter.
In an earlier advisory on its website, the FAA said its NOTAM system had “failed,” although NOTAMs issued before the outage were still viewable.
According to available reports, 21,464 flights are scheduled to depart airports in the United States on Wednesday, with a carrying capacity of nearly 2.9 million passengers.
