Flight departures resume across the United States after FAA system outage

BALTIMORE -- A Federal Aviation Administration-ordered pause to all domestic flight departures across the United States was lifted Wednesday after the system provides pilots with pre-flight safety notices was restored 

The pause after the failure of the NOTAMS -- or Notice to Air Missions -- system was lifted by the FAA around 9 a.m., and the agency said normal air traffic operations were resuming nationwide.

It was anticipated that some airlines could continue to delay or cancel flights because of ongoing congestion caused by the incident. Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport urged travelers to check their flight status with their airlines.

"The airport terminal is quiet, with no significant lines at airline ticketing or the TSA security checkpoints," the airport said in a statement. " Airport customer service personnel are checking with passengers in the terminal to provide updated information.  Our operations personnel remain in close contact with the FAA and airline partners."

WJZ's Amy Kawata was at the airport Wednesday morning, where the departure board was lit up with red for delays. 

 One traveler told WJZ she was already on the plane when the announcement of the delay was made. 

"We all got on board and then sat there for about 20 minutes and nothing happened, and then they make an announcement: 'you have to get off the plane because it's at least a two-hour delay,'" she said. 

Another frustrated passenger said he had been at the airport for five hours as of 9 a.m. 

"I've been here since four this morning, didn't know until security was actually sitting next to me and said 'all across the board is gonna be all red,'" Herbert Roberts said. "They told me it was 8:30, went to 11:15 and now it's until 2:15." 

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted, "The President has been briefed by the Secretary of Transportation this morning on the FAA system outage. There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes. The FAA will provide regular updates."

CBS reports that before leaving the White House with first lady Jill Biden, who was heading for a medical procedure, Mr. Biden told reporters, "I just spoke with Buttigieg. They don't know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him. ... I told them to report directly to me when they find out.

"Aircraft can still land safely, just not take off right now. They don't know what the cause of it is, they expect in a couple of hours they'll have a good sense of what caused it and will respond at that time."

NOTAMs used to be available through a hotline but that was phased out with the internet. The alerts span from mundane information about construction at airports to word about urgent flight restrictions or broken equipment.