Hundreds of flights across US grounded due to FAA system outage

Hundreds of flights across the United States have been affected after the Federal Aviation Administration experienced a computer outage, according to reports in the US media.

"The FAA is working to restore its Notice to Air Missions System. We are performing final validation checks and reloading the system now. Operations across the National Airspace System are affected. We will provide frequent updates as we make progress," the FAA tweeted.



The US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) system that alerts pilots and other flight personnel about hazards or any changes to airport facility services and relevant procedures was not processing updated information, the civil aviation regulator's website showed on Wednesday.

In an advisory, the FAA said its NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system had "failed". There was no immediate estimate for when it would be back, the website showed, though NOTAMs issued before the outage were still viewable.

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At around 6:30 Eastern, there were 760 delays within, into or out of the United States, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.

An additional 91 flights within, into or out of the United States were also canceled.

United Airlines said it had temporarily delayed all domestic flights and it would issue an update when it learned more from the FAA.

"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," it said on Twitter.

Germany's Lufthansa and Air France both said they were continuing to operate flights to and from the United States, while the French airline said it was monitoring the situation.

"Arriving and departing passengers can expect delays this morning and throughout the day," Austin-Bergstrom International Airport said on Twitter.

It was not immediately clear if the outage was a factor.

"Technicians are currently working to restore the system," the website showed. The FAA was not immediately available for further comment.

A NOTAM is a notice containing information essential to personnel concerned with flight operations, but not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means.

Information can go up to 200 pages for long-haul international flights and may include items such as runway closures, general bird hazard warnings, or low-altitude construction obstacles.

with inputs from agencies