10,000+ flights delayed, canceled after FAA outage, Damar Hamlin is home: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: More than 10,000 flights delayed, canceled following FAA outage

USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter Zach Wichter has the latest on an FAA outage that halted flights nationwide. Plus, a second set of classified documents has been found by aides to President Joe Biden, lawsuits pile up over firings and vaccine mandates, USA TODAY Education Reporter Kayla Jimenez talks about student lunch debt, and Damar Hamlin goes home from the hospital.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 12th of January, 2023. Today the latest on flight cancellations after a massive FAA outage, plus a second batch of classified documents has been found linked to President Joe Biden, and Damar Hamlin goes home.

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A computer glitch at the Federal Aviation Administration delayed airline traffic across much of the country yesterday, and for the first time since September 11th, 2001, departures were halted nationwide. So what happened? Producer PJ Elliott spoke to USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter Zach Wichter to find out.

PJ Elliott:

Zach, first off, thanks for joining the podcast.

Zach Wichter:

Yeah, happy to be here.

PJ Elliott:

So do we know what the genesis of the system's failure was with the FAA on Wednesday?

Zach Wichter:

No, we don't. That said, a lot of the experts who I've been speaking to over the course of my reporting have pointed out that the FAA and many institutions in the air traffic system in the US use pretty old technology as part of their backend. And so a lot of people suspect that it's just an IT failure of some kind, but we don't know for sure. The FAA has said they're investigating and we're all just waiting to hear what they eventually say.

PJ Elliott:

Yeah, how old is the system?

Zach Wichter:

I'm not 100% sure. I think that it's been through various iterations. And so no one who I spoke to is able to say exactly what kind of software the NOTAM system relies on. A lot of what the FAA uses and a lot of what the airlines use are systems built on top of other old systems. I mean, I always think when I go to the airport about how many other places in the world do you still see dot matrix printers? And there's one of those at pretty much every podium in an airport. So that gives you an idea of what kind of technology a lot of these folks are still dealing with.

PJ Elliott:

Zach, I want to ask you about the history of these issues. Is this something the FAA has dealt with before Wednesday?

Zach Wichter:

So I think that what happened Wednesday is pretty unusual, certainly in how widespread it is. But that said, there are tech issues all the time. We see that at the airlines, we see that at the FAA. The big question then becomes just how quickly it can be resolved and how widespread it is. What we saw Wednesday was unusual because it affected the entire nation's air system. But there are tech issues all the time, so that part of it isn't so uncommon.

PJ Elliott:

Are the issues that happened with the FAA on Wednesday linked in any way to what happened with Southwest a couple weeks ago?

Zach Wichter:

It's a good question, and I would say the top line answer is no. Separate systems, separate organizations. I do think that both what we saw on Wednesday and what we saw with Southwest could be a symptom of the same problem of these old systems kind of supporting 21st century travel. I think that we are seeing some cracks in that, for lack of a better word.

PJ Elliott:

Zach, thanks so much for your time and for the information. Have a good one.

Zach Wichter:

Yeah, no problem. Thanks again for having me on.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

A second set of classified documents has been found by aides to President Joe Biden at a different location from his former office where records were first discovered in November. The White House confirmed that November discovery earlier this week.

President Joe Biden:

People know I take classified documents, classified information seriously.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden also said he was cooperating with the Justice Department review of the documents. It was not immediately clear how many documents were found at the second location or their classification level. Both discoveries of documents have drawn comparisons with former president Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago document seizures, but the episodes are different. Trump repeatedly resisted efforts by the National Archives while Biden has maintained that the documents were immediately returned to the archives. Meanwhile, newly empowered House Republicans are planning a series of investigations into President Joe Biden including into his family's business relations.

And a busy day in politics yesterday saw local Nassau County, New York Republicans call on freshman Congressman George Santos to resign. That's after allegations that he lied about his personal and professional credentials to win his seat. Santos defiantly told reporters that he will not step down.

♦

A new federal lawsuit against AstraZeneca claims the pharmaceutical company engaged in age discrimination for firing workers who refused COVID-19 vaccines. Fired workers cited a presentation last year by a company director of sales when he claimed the average employee age there was 48 and that that was too high. The former workers who filed the suit are all over the age of 40 and among some 200 people fired by AstraZeneca after claiming religious exemptions from vaccination. The suit is just one of many around the country related to firings and vaccine mandates. Former ESPN reporter Allison Williams is suing the sports network after she was fired in 2021 for failing to comply with the company's vaccine rules.

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As schools around the country reopen after winter break, their students are being reminded of the lunch debt they've racked up this year, with reports of students around the country owing some $19 million. Producer PJ Elliott talked with USA TODAY Education Reporter Kayla Jimenez to find out more.

PJ Elliott:

Kayla, thanks for joining the podcast today.

Kayla Jimenez:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

PJ Elliott:

So what is being done to help cover this school lunch debt?

Kayla Jimenez:

Yeah, so there are some states picking up the tabs per se and passing legislation to kind of combat this end to the universal school meals, but it's not national. So there's a lot of calls for Congress to reinstate what they had done before, but schools are really seeing this debt rack up again after that ending. And it's been about six months back in school, so that's where that money's coming from.

PJ Elliott:

Is anything being done in Congress to help either cover the debt or bring back the universal free meals?

Kayla Jimenez:

There's nothing being done right now, and that's kind of where calls from groups like this school nutrition association and other groups are really calling for this help. One of the reasons that I had the story come on my radar was I came across a TikTok video from this woman named Sara Dusek, and she had heard about schools that were accumulating debt. And she called one school and they said they had about $1,700 worth of debt and she ended up paying that off for that school and now has started efforts to kind of raise more money. So it's like these people, or social media influencers or groups, are coming in to kind of pick up that slack that was covered by Congress before during the pandemic.

PJ Elliott:

What impact does going hungry have on kids' ability to learn?

Kayla Jimenez:

Well, I think it's pretty evident, and today I've gotten tons of reader emails saying, "What? Well, what's going to happen to these kids? They can't focus on learning if they're not able to eat." Some districts are allowing kids to still get lunches and things, but they're still racking up that debt. But we know in a lot of areas, especially high poverty areas where people can't afford school lunch or maybe they don't meet the threshold for the income that they have to meet but they're still not able to afford school lunches, these kids are really suffering in school. And there's lunch shaming that goes on for kids who can't afford school lunches. And then there's legislation to address that. So this is really kind of a multi-pronged issue across the board.

PJ Elliott:

Kayla, thanks so much. I really appreciate your insight on this.

Kayla Jimenez:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Damar Hamlin has gone home. The Buffalo Bills player went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field during the January 2nd game against the Cincinnati Bengals. But doctors say the 24-year old has since made a remarkable recovery and was released from the hospital yesterday after a week in intensive care. Hamlin has continued to praise medical professionals who helped save him, ranging from medical personnel who revived him on the field, to the doctors and hospital staff who helped his recovery since. He's also acknowledged the outpouring of prayers and support from fans across the country. Hamlin's GoFundMe page to raise money for his community toy drive has received more than $8.6 million in donations. It's not clear what's next for Hamlin, but his team will begin the post-season this weekend against the Miami Dolphins. Coach Sean McDermott told reporters yesterday that Damar's health remains the priority, but that the team will welcome him back as he feels ready.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're here every morning of the week right here wherever you're listening right now. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: FAA outage update, Damar Hamlin returns home: 5 Things podcast