Flight disruptions expected to cascade at CVG, across US after FAA outage

A computer outage at the Federal Aviation Administration led to a grounding order for all departing aircraft Wednesday morning and will likely cascade into flight disruptions throughout the day, across the nation.

Flights across the U.S. were grounded Wednesday morning due to an outage of the Notice to Air Mission system, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which ordered airlines to pause departures until 9 a.m. to allow the agency to “validate the integrity of flight safety information.”

The outage affected operations across the National Airspace System.

Notice to Air Mission, or NOTAM, is the key system for providing safety information to flight personnel. During the outage, flights both domestic and to Canada were stopped. Military and medivac flights were excluded.

The multi-hour ground stop that began with an overnight outage is expected to cause continued disruptions at airports throughout the day, including at CVG.

As of 10 a.m., more than 5,000 flights were delayed and 900 were canceled nationwide, according to the tracking website FlightAware. Those numbers are likely to grow.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted that President Joe Biden has been briefed on the outage and that there is "no evidence of cyberattack at this point." Biden has directed the Department of Transportation to conduct a full investigation into the causes.

At 9:30 a.m. the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport website showed 23 delayed flights and four cancelations in departures, similar numbers appear on the arrival side as well.

In a tweet, CVG said it was "aware of potential delays" due to the issue, and advised flyers to check with their airlines, downloading the airline's app for real-time flight status updates. Passenger and cargo were both affected by the outage, CVG said.

A CVG spokesperson said the airport was able to launch some Delta flights early Wednesday morning.

In an initial Wednesday morning tweet, FAA said it was working to restore its Notice to Air Missions system, performing final validation checks and reloading the system.

What is the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system?

A Notice to Air Missions is a notice that provides pilots and other flight personnel with real-time, safety information concerning flight operations and airports.

NOTAMs list potential hazards and conditions that can change flights – from runway construction or possible icing to a change in an aeronautical facility or flight service.

Pilots are required to consult NOTAMs before starting every flight.

The FAA notes that a NOTAM “states the abnormal status of a component of the National Airspace System (NAS) – not the normal status.” The federal agency adds that NOTAMs are “not known far enough in advance to be publicized by other means.”

"It’s a safety issue," said Ahmed Abdelghan, associate dean for research at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's David B. O’Maley College of Business "God forbid if the pilots are not updated with abnormal conditions it might lead to some serious problems like accidents or something like that."

The NOTAM system was telephone-based in the past, with pilots calling flight service stations for the information, but it has now moved online.

Wednesday’s NOTAM system outage will likely lead to widespread disruption – as all aircraft are required to route through the system, including both commercial and military flights.

The Enquirer will update this report. USA Today contributed

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: FAA outage: Ground stop lifted, flights resume after NOTAM system issue