On the morning of Wednesday 11th January, all domestic US flights were grounded due to a failure with the system that issues NOTAMs (Notice to Air Missions), the FAA has confirmed. The FAA has grounded all departures until at least 0900am Eastern US time (1400 GMT) whilst it works to fully restore all systems.
All flights departing from the US have been grounded, whilst passengers of other flights to the United States have also been warned to expect delays and disruption to their flight status.
NOTAMs are messages which are sent to aircrews which require fairly immediate attention. For example, the introduction or termination of an airspace restriction, a hazard or change to operating procedures anywhere in the airspace.
According to Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, there is currently no evidence to indicate the failure is the result of a cyberattack and the president has ordered the Department of Transport DOT to carry out an investigation into the failure.
Matt is a Berlin-based writer and reporter for International Flight Network. Originally from London, he has been involved in aviation from a very young age and has a particular focus on aircraft safety, accidents and technical details.
