Flights finally resume after FAA computer outage grounds airlines nationwide
BOSTON - Planes were back in the air in Boston on Wednesday night after a long day of delays.
For the first time since 9/11, departing flights were grounded across the U.S. due to a system malfunction at the
Federal Aviation Administration.
It happened just after 7 a.m. The FAA says an overnight outage to their Notice to Air Missions System is what caused the halt. As a result, more than 300 flights were delayed at Logan International Airport Wednesday according to FlightAware.
Kevin Miquelon, of St. Louis, drove from Portland to Logan in hopes of finding a direct flight after his Maine flights were delayed.
"A friend of mine texted me 'I'm glad I drove on my trip, all flights are grounded.' I thought he was kidding," said Miquelon.
He booked a rental car to drive down to Boston, but aviation expert David Dague said it's unlikely passengers will be reimbursed for added expenses due to the nature of this incident. "The compensation will be limited," he said.
He added what happened is unprecedented, "It hasn't been down previously before."
He said the system is essential for flight safety, noting it informs pilots of air restrictions.
"Say Air Force One is in town, or a sporting event closes their air space, pilots create their flight plan in and around that restriction," Dague said.
In a statement Wednesday night, the FAA said its preliminary investigation traced the outage to a "damaged database file," but has found "no evidence of a cyber attack."
Thousands of flights were delayed across the country, impacting travelers coming from overseas like Linda Somekh from Tel Aviv.
"We ran, we ran, and they said, 'No, there's a delay of two hours, three hours," said Somekh.
Most travelers felt lucky their flights weren't cancelled.
"They kept pushing it back, and pushing it back. I was just hoping they wouldn't cancel it," said Ilya Marin, of Boston.
One young 9-year-old boy was pleased he didn't make it in time for class. "I wanted to go faster, but I wasn't that annoyed because I didn't have school," he said.
To check on all flights at Logan, visit Massport's website.