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 https://slate.com/business/2022/12/clear-airports-line-tsa-precheck.html
+===== Fuel =====
+== FAA Continues To Stall On G100UL ==
+Paul Bertorelli - June 5, 2022
+When last I worked myself into a virtual lather over the glacial non-progress of the stupidly over complicated process of finding an unleaded aviation fuel, I allowed as how I had grown old watching this process. I’m two months older now and still, nothing has happened.
+At Sun ‘n Fun, George Braly told us he was assured by the FAA’s Earl Lawrence that STCs for General Aviation Modification Inc.’s G100UL would “almost certainly” be approved by early May. It’s early June and not only is Lawrence gone from his job overseeing certification at the FAA, he’s gone from the FAA. A new person, Lirio Liu, now has Lawrence’s old job, and evidently has to start over again with the final review. She has declined to respond to Braly’s request for either an update or a face-to-face meeting.
+In the interim, I was asked by a reader why I thought the FAA was delaying this approval. First, recall that GAMI has been at this for 12 years and has completed, in detail, all the FAA-specified test parameters and is the only company to have done this, plus a long-term fleet durability test with Embry-Riddle. The Wichita certification office has reviewed the project ad nauseum and sent it on to Washington for the final approval. All boxes checked.
+https://www.avweb.com/insider/faa-continues-to-stall-on-g100ul/
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-==== Hiring ====
+===== Hiring =====
 == The FAA's Hiring Scandal: A Quick Overview ==
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-===== Fuel =====
-== FAA Continues To Stall On G100UL ==
-Paul Bertorelli - June 5, 2022
-When last I worked myself into a virtual lather over the glacial non-progress of the stupidly over complicated process of finding an unleaded aviation fuel, I allowed as how I had grown old watching this process. I’m two months older now and still, nothing has happened.
+====== Incident ======
-At Sun ‘n Fun, George Braly told us he was assured by the FAA’s Earl Lawrence that STCs for General Aviation Modification Inc.’s G100UL would “almost certainly” be approved by early May. It’s early June and not only is Lawrence gone from his job overseeing certification at the FAA, he’s gone from the FAA. A new person, Lirio Liu, now has Lawrence’s old job, and evidently has to start over again with the final review. She has declined to respond to Braly’s request for either an update or a face-to-face meeting.
-In the interim, I was asked by a reader why I thought the FAA was delaying this approval. First, recall that GAMI has been at this for 12 years and has completed, in detail, all the FAA-specified test parameters and is the only company to have done this, plus a long-term fleet durability test with Embry-Riddle. The Wichita certification office has reviewed the project ad nauseum and sent it on to Washington for the final approval. All boxes checked.
+==== Outages ====
-https://www.avweb.com/insider/faa-continues-to-stall-on-g100ul/
+=== January 2023 ===
+== A Corrupted Database Likely Caused the Outage That Delayed Thousands of Flights This Week ==
+Airlines are still recovering from a corrupted file in the Notice to Air Missions system forced the FAA to ground thousands of flights.
+Mack DeGeurin - 12 January 2023
+It turns out a corrupted database file may be all it takes to briefly bring the entire air industry to a standstill.
-===== Space Regulation =====
+In a statement released late Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was still investigating the root cause of a systems error that forced it to dramatically ground all domestic flights for more than a hour Wednesday, but said a corrupted file in its Notice to Air Missions system is likely to blame. That crucial system provides air personnel with critical safety information related to flight operation. Pilots use the Notice to Air Missions system before take off to learn about potential closed runways or other hazards. In other words, it’s something every passenger should really want to work.
-==== SpaceX ====
+https://gizmodo.com/airlines-ground-stoppage-faa-delayed-flights-1849979684
-== Citing slow Starship reviews, SpaceX urges FAA to double licensing staff ==
+== A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage. It was also found in the backup system ==
-“Licensing at this point for Starship is a critical path item for the Artemis program."
+Gregory Wallace and Pete Muntean, CNN - Updated 11th January 2023
-Eric Berger - 10/17/2023, 7:09 AM
+Officials are still trying to figure out exactly what led to the Federal Aviation Administration system outage on Wednesday but have traced it to a corrupt file, which was first reported by CNN.
-In a remarkably frank discussion this week, several senior SpaceX officials spoke with Ars Technica on background about how working with the Federal Aviation Administration has slowed down the company's progress not just on development of the Starship program, but on innovations with the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs as well.
+In a statement late Wednesday, the FAA said it was continuing to investigate the outage and "take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again."
-The SpaceX officials said they want to be clear that the FAA is doing a reasonably good job with the resources it has, and that everyone supports the mission of safe spaceflight. However, they said, the FAA needs significantly more people working in its licensing department and should be encouraged to prioritize missions of national importance.
+"Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyberattack," the FAA said.
-In recent months, according to SpaceX, its programs have had to compete with one another for reviews at the FAA. This has significantly slowed down the Starship program and put development of a Human Landing System for NASA's Artemis program at risk. Inefficient regulation, the officials said, is decreasing American competitiveness as space programs in China and elsewhere around the world rise.
+The FAA is still trying to determine whether any one person or "routine entry" into the database is responsible for the corrupted file, a government official familiar with the investigation into the NOTAM system outage told CNN.
-https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/citing-slow-starship-reviews-spacex-urges-faa-to-double-licensing-staff/
+Another source familiar with the Federal Aviation Administration operation described exclusively to CNN on Wednesday how the outage played out.
+https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa-ground-stop-causes/index.html
+== FAA blames 'damaged database file' for major NOTAM outage ==
+A technical glitch led to flights being grounded nationwide.
+Jon Fingas - January 12, 2023 2:30 PM
+There wasn't anything particularly sinister about the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) outage that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground US flights on Wednesday — it appears to have been a relatively simple glitch. As part of its early investigation, the FAA has determined that the outage was prompted by a "damaged database file." The agency is still working to identify the exact causes and prevent repeat incidents, but says there's still "no evidence" of a cyberattack.
-====== Incident ======
+The FAA grounded all domestic departures in the US on Wednesday morning after the NOTAM system failed the afternoon before. This was the first such failure in the country, and it prompted hundreds of delays that took hours to resolve. NOTAMs provide important information about potential problems along a flight's path, such as runway closures and temporary airspace restrictions.
-===== Trevor Jacob =====
+https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-outage-explanation-193048158.html
-== A YouTuber Purposely Crashed His Plane in California, FAA Says ==
+== FAA says computer failure that grounded thousands of flights was caused by 2 contractors who introduced data errors into NOTAM system ==
-Posted by msmash on Thursday April 21, 2022 11:07AM
+Alan Levin and Bloomberg - January 13, 2023 at 2:32 AM PST
-The Federal Aviation Administration has found that Trevor Jacob, a daredevil YouTuber who posted a video of himself last year parachuting out of a plane that he claimed had malfunctioned, purposely abandoned the aircraft and allowed it to crash into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. From a report:
+The computer failure that prompted a halt of all US flight departures was caused when a data file was damaged as a result of a failure to follow government procedures, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.
-<blockquote>In a letter to Mr. Jacob on April 11, the F.A.A. said he had violated federal aviation regulations and operated his single-engine plane in a "careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another." The agency said it would immediately revoke Mr. Jacob's private pilot certificate, effectively ending his permission to operate any aircraft. Reached by email on Wednesday, Mr. Jacob appeared unaware of the F.A.A.'s ruling and replied, "Where'd you get that information?"</blockquote>
-https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/04/21/187238/a-youtuber-purposely-crashed-his-plane-in-california-faa-says
+Unspecified “personnel” were responsible for corrupting the file, which led to the outage of an FAA computer system that sends safety notices to pilots, the agency said in a statement. That triggered the FAA to order a halt to all US departing flights, causing thousands of delays and cancellations Wednesday.
-== Feds Say YouTuber-Pilot Intentionally Crashed Plane for Views ==
+“The system is functioning properly and cancellations today were below 1%,” the agency said.
-Trevor Jacob filmed himself parachuting out of a nose-diving plane, prompting a federal investigation.
+The preliminary indications are that two people working for a contractor introduced errors into the core data used on the system known as Notice to Air Missions, or Notam, according to a person familiar with the FAA review. The person asked not to be identified speaking about the sensitive, ongoing issue.
-Lauren Leffer - 21 April 2022 1:05PM
+Notams are advisories to pilots on safety-critical conditions at airports and other areas aircraft might traverse, including everything from warnings about bird activity to runway construction.
-Apparently, actions have consequences.
+Like other computer systems that are critical to operating flights, the FAA has imposed procedures to ensure data aren’t damaged by technicians working on them, said the person. The file or files were altered in spite of rules that prohibit those kind of changes on a live system.
-The pilot, YouTuber, and former Olympic snowboarder, Trevor Jacob, who posted a 13-minute video of himself escaping a crashing plane in December 2021, no longer has a license to fly. This comes after the Federal Aviation Administration wrapped up a 3-month long investigation that uncovered some pretty insane findings.
+https://fortune.com/2023/01/13/faa-computer-failure-grounded-thousands-flights-caused-2-contractors-introduced-data-errors-notam-system/
-In an April 11 letter to Jacob, first revealed in a New York Times report on Wednesday, the FAA said evidence shows he operated the flight to purposely cause it to crash, adding evidence like, “during this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed.”
+== An aviation expert explains how the FAA’s critical NOTAM safety system works ==
-https://gizmodo.com/feds-say-youtuber-pilot-intentionally-crashed-plane-for-1848823657
+This is why planes can't fly when NOTAM goes down.
-== FAA revokes YouTuber's pilot license, saying he deliberately crashed his plane ==
+Brian Strzempkowski, The Conversation - 1/14/2023, 3:50 AM
-The "I crashed my plane" guy won't be flying again anytime soon, unless it's commercial.
+<blockquote>
+Late in the evening of Jan. 10, 2023, an important digital system known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration went offline. The FAA was able to continue getting necessary information to pilots overnight using a phone-based backup, but the stopgap couldn’t keep up with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all commercial flights in the U.S. In total, nearly 7,000 flights were canceled. Brian Strzempkowksi is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a commercial pilot, flight instructor and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down.
+</blockquote>
-Andrew Tarantola - April 21st, 2022
+What is NOTAM?
-On November 21st, Trevor Jacob's single-engine airplane fell out of the sky — a harrowing experience that the YouTuber just so happened to catch on film and upload to social media. In January, aviation experts began investigating the incident (as they are wont to do in the event of most every aviation crash) and, on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration formally accused Jacob of staging the entire incident and intentionally crashing his 1940 Taylorcraft for online clout.
+Aviation is full of acronyms, and Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, is one acronym that pilots learn early on in their training. A NOTAM is quite simply a message that is disseminated to flight crews of every aircraft in the US.
-At the time, Jacob, a former Olympic snowboarder, claimed that his plane had malfunctioned, forcing him to bail out and parachute to safely while the aircraft crashed into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. However, in a letter dated April 11th, the FAA informed him that he had operated his plane in a “careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another,” a violation of aviation regulations. The FAA also revoked his pilot's license effective immediately.
+The NOTAM system is a computer network run by the Federal Aviation Administration that provides real-time updates to crews about situations relating to weather, infrastructure, ground conditions or anything else that may affect the safety of flight. Trained professionals—like air traffic controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel, and FAA personnel in charge of national airspace infrastructure—can access the system and enter any information they need to share broadly.
-https://www.engadget.com/faa-revokes-youtube-pilot-license-he-deliberately-crashed-plane-171141320.html
+Pilots, air traffic controllers, and anyone else who needs to know about flying conditions can access the NOTAM system and make appropriate changes to planned flights. It’s similar to checking the traffic on your phone or on the local news before you head to work in the morning. A traffic report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways that may lead you take a different route to work.
-== YouTuber who staged plane crash faces up to 20 years jail: US officials ==
+https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/an-aviation-expert-explains-how-the-faas-critical-notam-safety-system-works/
-Huw GRIFFITH - Thu, May 11, 2023 at 7:13 PM PDT
+== FAA's NOTAM computer outage affected military flights ==
-A YouTuber pilot who bailed out midair and deliberately sent his plane crashing into the ground to bolster viewing numbers on his channel could be jailed for up to 20 years, US authorities said Thursday.
+The data file that triggered the incident was corrupted by contractors.
-In a video seen by nearly three million people and entitled "I crashed my airplane," Trevor Jacob appears to experience engine trouble while flying over southern California in November 2021.
+Mariella Moon - January 14, 2023 10:55 AM
-The dramatic footage shows Jacob, 29, ejecting from the single engine plane -- selfie-stick in hand -- and parachuting into the dense vegetation of the Los Padres National Forest.
+On January 11th, the Federal Aviation Administration paused all domestic departures in the US after its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system failed. The agency later revealed that the outage was caused by a database file that was damaged by "personnel who failed to follow procedures." Now, according to a new report from The Washington Post, the database failure also created issues for tools used by US military pilots.
-Cameras placed all over the aircraft show its out-of-control descent into the forest, and its eventual crash landing.
+One of the affected systems was the Defense Internet NOTAM Service (DINS), which typically comes with FAA alerts regarding flight hazards. During the outage, military pilots were either getting NOTAMs in duplicates or not getting any at all. The Post said an FAA bulletin notified military users that the system had become "impaired and unreliable." Unlike civilian flights, which had to be grounded, military flights can proceed in situations like this. An Air Force spokesperson told the outlet that the military branch's pilots had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards themselves.
-https://news.yahoo.com/youtuber-staged-plane-crash-faces-205718964.html
+https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-computer-outage-affected-even-military-flights-155514704.html
-== YouTuber who crashed plane admits he did it for money and views ==
-The maximum sentence for YouTuber's admitted crimes is 20 years.
+== FAA Says Contractor Unintentionally Caused Outage That Disrupted Flights ==
-Ashley Belanger - 5/12/2023, 12:39 PM
+Posted by msmash on Friday January 20, 2023 06:43AM
-A YouTuber who deliberately crashed a plane to "gain notoriety and make money" has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a federal investigation, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday. In his plea agreement, California pilot Trevor Jacob admitted to "deliberately destroying" the plane wreckage and repeatedly lying to officials.
+The Federal Aviation Administration has said that a contractor working for the air-safety regulator had unintentionally deleted computer files used in a pilot-alert system, leading to an outage that disrupted U.S. air traffic last week. From a report:
-The crimes of destruction and concealment with intent to impede a federal investigation carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a potential fine of up to $250,000. The Los Angeles district court may impose a lesser sentence due to the plea deal, though.
+<blockquote>
+The agency, which declined to identify the contractor, said its personnel were working to correctly synchronize two databases -- a main one and a backup -- used for the alert system when the files were unintentionally deleted. The FAA said it had taken steps to prevent a recurrence of the outage in the system used for collecting and distributing the alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions, or Notams. "The agency has so far found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent," the FAA said late Thursday in a statement outlining preliminary findings in its continuing investigation. The FAA said that it had made necessary repairs to the system and has taken steps to make it more resilient.
+</blockquote>
-Jacob is scheduled to appear in court in the coming weeks, the DOJ reported. A DOJ public information officer, Ciaran McEvoy, told Ars that Jacob has not yet pleaded guilty. After an initial court appearance—essentially a bond hearing—a change of plea hearing will be scheduled. If Jacob pleads guilty at that hearing, a federal judge will schedule a sentencing hearing several months later. From there, Jacob would meet with the US Probation Office, which will draft a confidential pre-sentencing report recommending the sentence that the office thinks he deserves. Jacob and the prosecutors can either agree or disagree with that sentencing report, and then, ultimately, a judge will determine what sentence is imposed.
+https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/01/20/1452248/faa-says-contractor-unintentionally-caused-outage-that-disrupted-flights
-https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/youtuber-who-crashed-plane-admits-he-did-it-for-money-and-views/
+== The FAA grounded all US flights because contractors mistakenly deleted files ==
-== YouTuber Pleads Guilty to Intentionally Crashing an Airplane ==
+They were in the midst of synchronizing databases, the agency revealed.
-Trevor Jacob faces up to 20 years in prison for an intentional plane crash and dismembering and hiding the aircraft's wreckage.
+Mariella Moon - January 20, 2023 5:20 AM
-Nikki Main - 12 May 2023
+The contractors working on the Federal Aviation Administration's NOTAM system apparently deleted files by accident, leading to the delays and cancellations of thousands of US flights. If you'll recall, the FAA paused all domestic departures in the US on the morning of January 11th, because its NOTAM or Notice to Air Missions system had failed. NOTAMs typically contain important information for pilots, including warnings for potential hazards along a flight's route, flight restrictions and runway closures.
-A YouTube pilot has pleaded guilty to intentionally crashing an airplane and intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, of Lompoc, California ejected himself from an airplane he was flying in November 2021, claiming there was no safe place to land, while the plane crashed somewhere near the Los Padres National Forest.
+While the FAA only paused departures on the 11th, US flights were already being pushed back the day before after the outage occurred at around 3:28PM ET. The issue even had an impact on military flights that partly relied on FAA NOTAMs: Pilots reportedly had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards themselves.
-Jacob installed numerous cameras on the plane before takeoff, according to a DOJ press release, and had equipped himself with a parachute and selfie stick, all of which captured Jacob ejecting himself from the plane and parachuting to the ground. He uploaded the 12-minute video to YouTube which has 3.1 million views at the time of writing. The video shows Jacob taking off before claiming the plane was malfunctioning 35 minutes later when he parachutes out of the plane and the video shows it crashing into the side of a mountain. Jacob records himself hiking through the park and complaining of exhaustion before being picked up by local farmers.
+https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-outage-files-deleted-102006495.html
-https://gizmodo.com/youtube-trevor-jacob-airplane-crash-1850431856
+== Massive outage grounded US flights because someone accidentally deleted a file ==
+Our lives are in your hands, and you have butterfingers?
+Brandon Vigliarolo - Sat 21 Jan 2023 01:15 UTC
+The US Federal Aviation Administration says its preliminary investigation of last week's system outage that caused the first nationwide grounding of flights since September 11, 2001, has uncovered the cause: contractors accidentally deleted some essential files.
+Oops.
+In its first word on the outage since January 11, the day the FAA's Notice to Air Mission Systems (NOTAM) went offline, the agency said contract personnel were working to correct a synchronization issue between the live primary database and a backup copy. In the process, some incorrect keys were apparently pressed and more than 11,000 flights were grounded.
+NOTAMs are notices of changes that may affect flight plans, like construction, weather or other emergencies. Pilots on long-haul flights can be stuck reading through hundreds of pages of NOTAMs before taking off; in short, they're pretty essential.
+The outage last week was relatively brief, and only saw flights due to take off in a roughly three-hour window delayed or canceled before the FAA said everything was restored at 0900 Eastern Time.
-====== Technology ======
+https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/21/faa_outage_reasons/
-== US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks ==
+== The Morning After: The FAA grounded all US flights due to mistakenly deleted files ==
-Agency seeks contractors to modernize decades-old systems within four years.
+We've all done it, right?
-Benj Edwards – Jun 9, 2025 8:36 AM
+Mat Smith - January 23, 2023 7:15 AM
-On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau told the House Appropriations Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports. The agency has issued a Request For Information to gather proposals from companies willing to tackle the massive infrastructure overhaul.
+The FAA paused all domestic departures in the US on the morning of January 11th because its NOTAM or Notice to Air Missions system failed. Now we know why: deleted files. Contractors working on the Federal Aviation Administration's NOTAM system, it seems, deleted some crucial files by accident. This resulted in delays and cancellations of thousands of US flights. The issue even impacted military flights that partly relied on FAA NOTAMs: Pilots reportedly had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards.
-"The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips," Rocheleau said during the committee hearing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the project "the most important infrastructure project that we've had in this country for decades," describing it as a bipartisan priority.
+Apparently, its contractors were synchronizing a main and a back-up database when they "unintentionally deleted files" that turned out to be necessary to keep the alert system running. The FAA reiterated it has "so far found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent." We’ve all accidentally deleted a file, sure. It’s just never grounded the flights of an entire country.
-Most air traffic control towers and facilities across the US currently operate with technology that seems frozen in the 20th century, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing—when it works. Some controllers currently use paper strips to track aircraft movements and transfer data between systems using floppy disks, while their computers run Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, which launched in 1995.
+https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-faa-grounded-all-us-flights-due-to-mistakenly-deleted-files-121557374.html
-https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/06/faa-to-retire-floppy-disks-and-windows-95-amid-air-traffic-control-overhaul/
+== Aviation overhaul bill passes US House... for the third time ==
+Maybe it'll be different this year as clamors of 'I told you so' accompany the proposal
+Brandon Vigliarolo - Thu 26 Jan 2023 18:04 UTC
-==== Cellular ====
+The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to advance a bill that would create a task force to improve the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that was at the heart of the nationwide flight grounding earlier this month.
-== Why you can never get any cell service on the tarmac ==
+Don't go thinking that NOTAM Improvement Act of 2023 will guarantee action, though. The bill's sponsor, Minnesota Republican Representative Pete Stauber, has introduced the same bill for the past two congressional sessions.
-Dec. 08, 2019 - Madison Blancaflor
+NOTAMs are used to relay last-minute information to flight crews that could affect their routes, like a change in conditions at an airport, a surprise storm or other phenomena that endanger the flight.
-While just about everyone knows to turn their cellphone off or on airplane mode once the plane takes off, there's no rule against using it while your plane is on the ground. But we've probably all faced the struggle of trying to use our phones on the airport tarmac, only to get caught in an endless loading cycle.
+The 2021 and 2019 versions both passed the House as well, but fizzled out once they reached the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This year, though, things are a bit different – the US just had its first nationwide flight grounding since September 11, 2001.
-I've experienced it personally on many occasions. I'll want to send a quick text to friends or family to update them that I'm about to be unavailable for a bit. Or I'll remember last minute that I wanted to download an episode of the Netflix show I'm currently bingeing for the flight. But more times than not, I'm unable to get a stable connection.
+The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was forced to ground all US departures for several hours on January 11 because NOTAM went offline. The cause was later revealed to be a pretty serious mistake on the part of some contractors working to fix a synchronization issue between the live and backup copies of the database.
-https://thepointsguy.com/airline/slow-connection-airport-tarmacs/
+In the process of working on their "fix," said contractors grounded 11,000 flights by deleting some rather important files. Per Reuters, the FAA identified the contractors as being from IT services firm Spatial Front, which The Register contacted for confirmation, but hasn't heard back.
-== Exclusive: FAA Investigates If It's Safer to Leave Cellphones On ==
+The FAA said in a letter to lawmakers seen by the newswire that all Spatial Front employees directly involved in the deletion had their access to FAA buildings and systems terminated.
-G and 5G signals might help warn pilots when their GPS is being spoofed
+https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/26/notam_overhaul_passes_house/
-Mark Harris - 02 Sep 2021
+== FAA Says Computer System Update Should Prevent Another Glitch That Grounded 11,000 Planes ==
-The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been quietly funding tests with live cellphones in light aircraft cockpits as a possible counter-measure to GPS spoofing attacks, Spectrum has learned.
+The FAA announced an update to its pilot-alert system as lawmakers also look at ways to study and modernize the database.
-The series of tests, which occurred this summer in the skies over Virginia, used commercial smartphones connecting to standard 4G and 5G wireless networks operated by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC).
+Nikki Main - 30 January 2023
-The phones were running an app developed by the Mitre Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development, a federally-funded research center that provides the FAA with advanced technical capabilities in systems engineering, mathematics, and computer science.
+The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented computer system changes to combat outages like the one that occurred on January 11, resulting in more than 11,000 flight disruptions.
-https://spectrum.ieee.org/faa-tested-4g-5g-flights
+Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen wrote a letter outlining the changes. In the letter obtained by Reuters, Nolen said that the FAA introduced a one-hour delay for database synchronization, which he said should prevent any inaccurate file alerts from immediately reaching the backup database.
-== Aircraft can't land safely due to interference with upcoming 5G C-band broadband service ==
+https://gizmodo.com/faa-notam-airlines-ground-stop-1850049706
-Expect flight delays and diversions, US Federal Aviation Administation warns
+== US warns aging air-traffic control code won't be fixed until 2030 ==
-Katyanna Quach Wed 8 Dec 2021 21:50 UTC
+NOTAM chance in hell this stuff is getting sorted soon despite outage
-The new 5G C-band wireless broadband service expected to rollout on 5 January 2022 in the US will disrupt local radio signals and make it difficult for airplanes to land safely in harsh weather conditions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
+Brandon Vigliarolo - Tue 7 Feb 2023 20:30 UTC
-Pilots rely on radio altimeter readings to figure out when and where an aircraft should carry out a series of operations to prepare for touchdown. But the upcoming 5G C-band service beaming from cell towers threatens to interfere with these signals, the FAA warned in two reports.
+The aging computer system that was behind the grounding of flights across the US last month will need until 2030 to be fully upgraded, the Federal Aviation Administration said, leaving US government leaders questioning why.
-Flights may have to be delayed or restricted at certain airports as the new broadband service comes into effect next year. The change could affect some 6,834 airplanes and 1,828 helicopters. The cost to operators is expected to be $580,890.
+On January 11 the FAA grounded all domestic aircraft for the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks when its Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) servers, which provide critical information to pilots and air crews about flight safety or route planning, went down. The issue was traced, as it so often is, to someone deleting the wrong file, but fixing this apparently takes a lot of time.
-https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/aircraft_5g_interference/
+Politicians were predictably outraged. In hearings before the Congressional Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Tuesday, several representatives referred to the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) as outdated, while Colin Allred (D-TX) said 2030 was an "unacceptably long time" to wait for improvements.
-== FAA urges airlines to replace altimeters that can’t filter out 5G signals ==
+https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/07/faa_notam_air_traffic/
-Better late than never: FCC asked aviation industry to fix problem in early 2020.
-Jon Brodkin - 5/4/2022, 9:36 AM
-The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly urging airlines to retrofit or replace altimeters that receive transmissions from outside their allotted frequencies. The FAA is meeting Wednesday "with telecom and airline industry officials on a push to retrofit and ultimately replace some airplane radio altimeters that could face interference from C-Band 5G wireless service," Reuters reported Tuesday.
-https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/05/faa-urges-airlines-to-replace-altimeters-that-cant-filter-out-5g-signals/
+==== Washington DC - June 2023 ====
-== FAA to airlines: 5G-sensitive radio altimeters have to go ==
+== Flights resume at DC-area airports after equipment issue grounded all planes ==
-Affected jet equipment will need retrofitting and eventual replacement, agency warns
+FOX 5 DC Digital Team - June 25, 2023 6:31PM / Updated 8:45PM
-Brandon Vigliarolo - Wed 4 May 2022 14:31 UTC
+Flights resumed at D.C.-area airports Sunday afternoon shortly after a communications equipment issue caused the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop.
-The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with airline and telecom officials yesterday to present its latest solution to the instrument interference problem presented by C-band 5G: replace the affected equipment.
+The ground stop impacted Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Richmond International Airport (RIC). This prevented takeoffs and landings, so inbound flights were being diverted, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.
-A letter from the FAA's head of aviation safety, Chris Rocheleau, proposed the meeting to establish a timeline for retrofitting or replacing radar altimeters in US airliners that are affected by 5G C-band signals, Reuters reported.
+Departing flights are now back on track, according to the FAA, and flights from New York bound for D.C. continue. Flights from the West Coast, Midwest and Florida bound for D.C.-area airports have also resumed.
-G C-band was expected to roll out in the beginning of 2022, but was put on hold until July while the FAA, airlines, and jet manufacturers seek a resolution. A number of different planes were affected, including most of the Boeing 737 family, due to their use of radio altimeters, which use radio signals to determine the plane's distance from the ground.
+https://www.fox5dc.com/news/flights-resume-at-dc-area-airports-after-equipment-issue-grounded-all-planes
-https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/04/faa_5g_altimeters/
-== FAA Wants US Airlines To Retrofit, Replace Radio Altimeters ==
+===== Trevor Jacob =====
-Posted by BeauHD on Thursday May 05, 2022 03:00AM
+== A YouTuber Purposely Crashed His Plane in California, FAA Says ==
-The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will meet Wednesday with telecom and airline industry officials on a push to retrofit and ultimately replace some airplane radio altimeters that could face interference from C-Band 5G wireless service. Reuters reports:
+Posted by msmash on Thursday April 21, 2022 11:07AM
-<blockquote>The altimeters give data on a plane's height above the ground and are crucial for bad-weather landings, but airline concerns about wireless interference from a planned 5G rollout led to disruptions at some U.S. airports earlier this year. The FAA wants to use the meeting to establish "an achievable timeframe to retrofit/replace radar altimeters in the U.S. fleet," according to a previously unreported letter from the FAA's top aviation safety official Chris Rocheleau reviewed by Reuters. It also asked aviation representatives "to offer options and commit to actions necessary to meet these objectives."</blockquote>
-https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/05/05/008229/faa-wants-us-airlines-to-retrofit-replace-radio-altimeters
+The Federal Aviation Administration has found that Trevor Jacob, a daredevil YouTuber who posted a video of himself last year parachuting out of a plane that he claimed had malfunctioned, purposely abandoned the aircraft and allowed it to crash into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. From a report:
+<blockquote>In a letter to Mr. Jacob on April 11, the F.A.A. said he had violated federal aviation regulations and operated his single-engine plane in a "careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another." The agency said it would immediately revoke Mr. Jacob's private pilot certificate, effectively ending his permission to operate any aircraft. Reached by email on Wednesday, Mr. Jacob appeared unaware of the F.A.A.'s ruling and replied, "Where'd you get that information?"</blockquote>
-== AT&T and Verizon give FAA another year to remedy C-band 5G interference issues ==
+https://news.slashdot.org/story/22/04/21/187238/a-youtuber-purposely-crashed-his-plane-in-california-faa-says
-Airlines are retrofitting altimeters with radio frequency filters.
+== Feds Say YouTuber-Pilot Intentionally Crashed Plane for Views ==
-Kris Holt - June 17th, 2022
+Trevor Jacob filmed himself parachuting out of a nose-diving plane, prompting a federal investigation.
-AT&T and Verizon have given the Federal Aviation Administration another year to fix altimeter issues as they look to roll out C-band 5G services around airports. “We believe we have identified a path that will continue to enable aviation and 5G C-band wireless to safely co-exist,” acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement.
+Lauren Leffer - 21 April 2022 1:05PM
-Under a phased plan, operators of regional aircraft with radio altimeters that are most susceptible to interference are required to fit them with radio frequency filters by the end of this year. That work is underway and the FAA says it will continue on an expedited basis.
+Apparently, actions have consequences.
-The agency also says it worked with AT&T and Verizon to identify airports where they can bolster service with minimal risk of upending flight schedules. The FAA plans to monitor the pace of RF filter retrofits on altimeters too.
+The pilot, YouTuber, and former Olympic snowboarder, Trevor Jacob, who posted a 13-minute video of himself escaping a crashing plane in December 2021, no longer has a license to fly. This comes after the Federal Aviation Administration wrapped up a 3-month long investigation that uncovered some pretty insane findings.
-https://www.engadget.com/faa-c-band-5g-verizon-att-airports-altimeters-183206836.html
+In an April 11 letter to Jacob, first revealed in a New York Times report on Wednesday, the FAA said evidence shows he operated the flight to purposely cause it to crash, adding evidence like, “during this flight, you opened the left side pilot door before you claimed the engine had failed.”
+https://gizmodo.com/feds-say-youtuber-pilot-intentionally-crashed-plane-for-1848823657
+== FAA revokes YouTuber's pilot license, saying he deliberately crashed his plane ==
+The "I crashed my plane" guy won't be flying again anytime soon, unless it's commercial.
-==== Outages ====
+Andrew Tarantola - April 21st, 2022
-=== January 2023 ===
+On November 21st, Trevor Jacob's single-engine airplane fell out of the sky — a harrowing experience that the YouTuber just so happened to catch on film and upload to social media. In January, aviation experts began investigating the incident (as they are wont to do in the event of most every aviation crash) and, on Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration formally accused Jacob of staging the entire incident and intentionally crashing his 1940 Taylorcraft for online clout.
-== A Corrupted Database Likely Caused the Outage That Delayed Thousands of Flights This Week ==
+At the time, Jacob, a former Olympic snowboarder, claimed that his plane had malfunctioned, forcing him to bail out and parachute to safely while the aircraft crashed into the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California. However, in a letter dated April 11th, the FAA informed him that he had operated his plane in a “careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another,” a violation of aviation regulations. The FAA also revoked his pilot's license effective immediately.
-Airlines are still recovering from a corrupted file in the Notice to Air Missions system forced the FAA to ground thousands of flights.
+https://www.engadget.com/faa-revokes-youtube-pilot-license-he-deliberately-crashed-plane-171141320.html
-Mack DeGeurin - 12 January 2023
+== YouTuber who staged plane crash faces up to 20 years jail: US officials ==
-It turns out a corrupted database file may be all it takes to briefly bring the entire air industry to a standstill.
+Huw GRIFFITH - Thu, May 11, 2023 at 7:13 PM PDT
-In a statement released late Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration said it was still investigating the root cause of a systems error that forced it to dramatically ground all domestic flights for more than a hour Wednesday, but said a corrupted file in its Notice to Air Missions system is likely to blame. That crucial system provides air personnel with critical safety information related to flight operation. Pilots use the Notice to Air Missions system before take off to learn about potential closed runways or other hazards. In other words, it’s something every passenger should really want to work.
+A YouTuber pilot who bailed out midair and deliberately sent his plane crashing into the ground to bolster viewing numbers on his channel could be jailed for up to 20 years, US authorities said Thursday.
-https://gizmodo.com/airlines-ground-stoppage-faa-delayed-flights-1849979684
+In a video seen by nearly three million people and entitled "I crashed my airplane," Trevor Jacob appears to experience engine trouble while flying over southern California in November 2021.
-== A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage. It was also found in the backup system ==
+The dramatic footage shows Jacob, 29, ejecting from the single engine plane -- selfie-stick in hand -- and parachuting into the dense vegetation of the Los Padres National Forest.
-Gregory Wallace and Pete Muntean, CNN - Updated 11th January 2023
+Cameras placed all over the aircraft show its out-of-control descent into the forest, and its eventual crash landing.
-Officials are still trying to figure out exactly what led to the Federal Aviation Administration system outage on Wednesday but have traced it to a corrupt file, which was first reported by CNN.
+https://news.yahoo.com/youtuber-staged-plane-crash-faces-205718964.html
-In a statement late Wednesday, the FAA said it was continuing to investigate the outage and "take all needed steps to prevent this kind of disruption from happening again."
+== YouTuber who crashed plane admits he did it for money and views ==
-"Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file. At this time, there is no evidence of a cyberattack," the FAA said.
+The maximum sentence for YouTuber's admitted crimes is 20 years.
-The FAA is still trying to determine whether any one person or "routine entry" into the database is responsible for the corrupted file, a government official familiar with the investigation into the NOTAM system outage told CNN.
+Ashley Belanger - 5/12/2023, 12:39 PM
-Another source familiar with the Federal Aviation Administration operation described exclusively to CNN on Wednesday how the outage played out.
+A YouTuber who deliberately crashed a plane to "gain notoriety and make money" has agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a federal investigation, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced yesterday. In his plea agreement, California pilot Trevor Jacob admitted to "deliberately destroying" the plane wreckage and repeatedly lying to officials.
-https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/faa-ground-stop-causes/index.html
+The crimes of destruction and concealment with intent to impede a federal investigation carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a potential fine of up to $250,000. The Los Angeles district court may impose a lesser sentence due to the plea deal, though.
-== FAA blames 'damaged database file' for major NOTAM outage ==
+Jacob is scheduled to appear in court in the coming weeks, the DOJ reported. A DOJ public information officer, Ciaran McEvoy, told Ars that Jacob has not yet pleaded guilty. After an initial court appearance—essentially a bond hearing—a change of plea hearing will be scheduled. If Jacob pleads guilty at that hearing, a federal judge will schedule a sentencing hearing several months later. From there, Jacob would meet with the US Probation Office, which will draft a confidential pre-sentencing report recommending the sentence that the office thinks he deserves. Jacob and the prosecutors can either agree or disagree with that sentencing report, and then, ultimately, a judge will determine what sentence is imposed.
-A technical glitch led to flights being grounded nationwide.
+https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/05/youtuber-who-crashed-plane-admits-he-did-it-for-money-and-views/
-Jon Fingas - January 12, 2023 2:30 PM
+== YouTuber Pleads Guilty to Intentionally Crashing an Airplane ==
-There wasn't anything particularly sinister about the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) outage that prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to ground US flights on Wednesday — it appears to have been a relatively simple glitch. As part of its early investigation, the FAA has determined that the outage was prompted by a "damaged database file." The agency is still working to identify the exact causes and prevent repeat incidents, but says there's still "no evidence" of a cyberattack.
+Trevor Jacob faces up to 20 years in prison for an intentional plane crash and dismembering and hiding the aircraft's wreckage.
-The FAA grounded all domestic departures in the US on Wednesday morning after the NOTAM system failed the afternoon before. This was the first such failure in the country, and it prompted hundreds of delays that took hours to resolve. NOTAMs provide important information about potential problems along a flight's path, such as runway closures and temporary airspace restrictions.
+Nikki Main - 12 May 2023
-https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-outage-explanation-193048158.html
+A YouTube pilot has pleaded guilty to intentionally crashing an airplane and intent to obstruct a federal investigation. Trevor Daniel Jacob, 29, of Lompoc, California ejected himself from an airplane he was flying in November 2021, claiming there was no safe place to land, while the plane crashed somewhere near the Los Padres National Forest.
-== FAA says computer failure that grounded thousands of flights was caused by 2 contractors who introduced data errors into NOTAM system ==
+Jacob installed numerous cameras on the plane before takeoff, according to a DOJ press release, and had equipped himself with a parachute and selfie stick, all of which captured Jacob ejecting himself from the plane and parachuting to the ground. He uploaded the 12-minute video to YouTube which has 3.1 million views at the time of writing. The video shows Jacob taking off before claiming the plane was malfunctioning 35 minutes later when he parachutes out of the plane and the video shows it crashing into the side of a mountain. Jacob records himself hiking through the park and complaining of exhaustion before being picked up by local farmers.
-Alan Levin and Bloomberg - January 13, 2023 at 2:32 AM PST
+https://gizmodo.com/youtube-trevor-jacob-airplane-crash-1850431856
-The computer failure that prompted a halt of all US flight departures was caused when a data file was damaged as a result of a failure to follow government procedures, the Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday.
-Unspecified “personnel” were responsible for corrupting the file, which led to the outage of an FAA computer system that sends safety notices to pilots, the agency said in a statement. That triggered the FAA to order a halt to all US departing flights, causing thousands of delays and cancellations Wednesday.
-“The system is functioning properly and cancellations today were below 1%,” the agency said.
-The preliminary indications are that two people working for a contractor introduced errors into the core data used on the system known as Notice to Air Missions, or Notam, according to a person familiar with the FAA review. The person asked not to be identified speaking about the sensitive, ongoing issue.
-Notams are advisories to pilots on safety-critical conditions at airports and other areas aircraft might traverse, including everything from warnings about bird activity to runway construction.
-Like other computer systems that are critical to operating flights, the FAA has imposed procedures to ensure data aren’t damaged by technicians working on them, said the person. The file or files were altered in spite of rules that prohibit those kind of changes on a live system.
-https://fortune.com/2023/01/13/faa-computer-failure-grounded-thousands-flights-caused-2-contractors-introduced-data-errors-notam-system/
-== An aviation expert explains how the FAA’s critical NOTAM safety system works ==
+====== Regulation ======
-This is why planes can't fly when NOTAM goes down.
+===== Space Regulation =====
-Brian Strzempkowski, The Conversation - 1/14/2023, 3:50 AM
-<blockquote>
+==== SpaceX ====
-Late in the evening of Jan. 10, 2023, an important digital system known as NOTAM run by the Federal Aviation Administration went offline. The FAA was able to continue getting necessary information to pilots overnight using a phone-based backup, but the stopgap couldn’t keep up with the morning rush of flights, and on Jan. 11, 2022, the FAA grounded all commercial flights in the U.S. In total, nearly 7,000 flights were canceled. Brian Strzempkowksi is the interim director of the Center for Aviation Studies at The Ohio State University and a commercial pilot, flight instructor and dispatcher. He explains what the NOTAM system is and why planes can’t fly if the system goes down.
-</blockquote>
-What is NOTAM?
+== Citing slow Starship reviews, SpaceX urges FAA to double licensing staff ==
-Aviation is full of acronyms, and Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, is one acronym that pilots learn early on in their training. A NOTAM is quite simply a message that is disseminated to flight crews of every aircraft in the US.
+“Licensing at this point for Starship is a critical path item for the Artemis program."
-The NOTAM system is a computer network run by the Federal Aviation Administration that provides real-time updates to crews about situations relating to weather, infrastructure, ground conditions or anything else that may affect the safety of flight. Trained professionals—like air traffic controllers, airport managers, airport operations personnel, and FAA personnel in charge of national airspace infrastructure—can access the system and enter any information they need to share broadly.
+Eric Berger - 10/17/2023, 7:09 AM
-Pilots, air traffic controllers, and anyone else who needs to know about flying conditions can access the NOTAM system and make appropriate changes to planned flights. It’s similar to checking the traffic on your phone or on the local news before you head to work in the morning. A traffic report will inform you of potential hazards or backups on the roadways that may lead you take a different route to work.
+In a remarkably frank discussion this week, several senior SpaceX officials spoke with Ars Technica on background about how working with the Federal Aviation Administration has slowed down the company's progress not just on development of the Starship program, but on innovations with the Falcon 9 and Dragon programs as well.
-https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/01/an-aviation-expert-explains-how-the-faas-critical-notam-safety-system-works/
+The SpaceX officials said they want to be clear that the FAA is doing a reasonably good job with the resources it has, and that everyone supports the mission of safe spaceflight. However, they said, the FAA needs significantly more people working in its licensing department and should be encouraged to prioritize missions of national importance.
-== FAA's NOTAM computer outage affected military flights ==
+In recent months, according to SpaceX, its programs have had to compete with one another for reviews at the FAA. This has significantly slowed down the Starship program and put development of a Human Landing System for NASA's Artemis program at risk. Inefficient regulation, the officials said, is decreasing American competitiveness as space programs in China and elsewhere around the world rise.
-The data file that triggered the incident was corrupted by contractors.
+https://arstechnica.com/space/2023/10/citing-slow-starship-reviews-spacex-urges-faa-to-double-licensing-staff/
-Mariella Moon - January 14, 2023 10:55 AM
-On January 11th, the Federal Aviation Administration paused all domestic departures in the US after its Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system failed. The agency later revealed that the outage was caused by a database file that was damaged by "personnel who failed to follow procedures." Now, according to a new report from The Washington Post, the database failure also created issues for tools used by US military pilots.
-One of the affected systems was the Defense Internet NOTAM Service (DINS), which typically comes with FAA alerts regarding flight hazards. During the outage, military pilots were either getting NOTAMs in duplicates or not getting any at all. The Post said an FAA bulletin notified military users that the system had become "impaired and unreliable." Unlike civilian flights, which had to be grounded, military flights can proceed in situations like this. An Air Force spokesperson told the outlet that the military branch's pilots had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards themselves.
-https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-computer-outage-affected-even-military-flights-155514704.html
-== FAA Says Contractor Unintentionally Caused Outage That Disrupted Flights ==
+====== Technology ======
-Posted by msmash on Friday January 20, 2023 06:43AM
+===== Obsolete / Windows 95 =====
-The Federal Aviation Administration has said that a contractor working for the air-safety regulator had unintentionally deleted computer files used in a pilot-alert system, leading to an outage that disrupted U.S. air traffic last week. From a report:
+== US air traffic control still runs on Windows 95 and floppy disks ==
-<blockquote>
+Agency seeks contractors to modernize decades-old systems within four years.
-The agency, which declined to identify the contractor, said its personnel were working to correctly synchronize two databases -- a main one and a backup -- used for the alert system when the files were unintentionally deleted. The FAA said it had taken steps to prevent a recurrence of the outage in the system used for collecting and distributing the alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions, or Notams. "The agency has so far found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent," the FAA said late Thursday in a statement outlining preliminary findings in its continuing investigation. The FAA said that it had made necessary repairs to the system and has taken steps to make it more resilient.
-</blockquote>
-https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/01/20/1452248/faa-says-contractor-unintentionally-caused-outage-that-disrupted-flights
+Benj Edwards – Jun 9, 2025 8:36 AM
-== The FAA grounded all US flights because contractors mistakenly deleted files ==
+On Wednesday, acting FAA Administrator Chris Rocheleau told the House Appropriations Committee that the Federal Aviation Administration plans to replace its aging air traffic control systems, which still rely on floppy disks and Windows 95 computers, Tom's Hardware reports. The agency has issued a Request For Information to gather proposals from companies willing to tackle the massive infrastructure overhaul.
-They were in the midst of synchronizing databases, the agency revealed.
+"The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips," Rocheleau said during the committee hearing. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the project "the most important infrastructure project that we've had in this country for decades," describing it as a bipartisan priority.
-Mariella Moon - January 20, 2023 5:20 AM
+Most air traffic control towers and facilities across the US currently operate with technology that seems frozen in the 20th century, although that isn't necessarily a bad thing—when it works. Some controllers currently use paper strips to track aircraft movements and transfer data between systems using floppy disks, while their computers run Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system, which launched in 1995.
-The contractors working on the Federal Aviation Administration's NOTAM system apparently deleted files by accident, leading to the delays and cancellations of thousands of US flights. If you'll recall, the FAA paused all domestic departures in the US on the morning of January 11th, because its NOTAM or Notice to Air Missions system had failed. NOTAMs typically contain important information for pilots, including warnings for potential hazards along a flight's route, flight restrictions and runway closures.
+https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/06/faa-to-retire-floppy-disks-and-windows-95-amid-air-traffic-control-overhaul/
-While the FAA only paused departures on the 11th, US flights were already being pushed back the day before after the outage occurred at around 3:28PM ET. The issue even had an impact on military flights that partly relied on FAA NOTAMs: Pilots reportedly had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards themselves.
+== Floppy disks and paper strips lurk behind US air traffic control ==
-https://www.engadget.com/faa-notam-outage-files-deleted-102006495.html
+Not to worry nervous flyers, FAA vows to banish archaic systems... in a few years
-== Massive outage grounded US flights because someone accidentally deleted a file ==
+Richard Speed - Mon 9 Jun 2025 12:43 UTC
-Our lives are in your hands, and you have butterfingers?
+The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has confirmed that the US air traffic control system still runs on somewhat antiquated bits of technology, including floppy disks and paper strips.
-Brandon Vigliarolo - Sat 21 Jan 2023 01:15 UTC
+This came during last week's Budget Hearing for the US House Appropriation Committee, in which the current FAA boss, Chris Rocheleau, explained to the committee that a new system would mean "no more floppy disks or paper strips."
-The US Federal Aviation Administration says its preliminary investigation of last week's system outage that caused the first nationwide grounding of flights since September 11, 2001, has uncovered the cause: contractors accidentally deleted some essential files.
+Asked by Congressman Mike Quigley how the FAA plans to make up for the "12 percent of aeronautical information specialists" – who update charts, maps and key data – that had either left the FAA or were planning to leave, Rocheleau said "first and foremost we're assessing how we're doing that and what what can we do better – so for instance going from a paperbased process to an electronic based process, that's one of them."
-Oops.
+A few staffers should probably expect their job descriptions to enlarge, it seems. Rocheleau said the FAA would keep hiring for critical safety positions but would also be "leveraging the talent that we do have that is staying and making sure that they can both do the critical safety functions as well as those support functions."
-In its first word on the outage since January 11, the day the FAA's Notice to Air Mission Systems (NOTAM) went offline, the agency said contract personnel were working to correct a synchronization issue between the live primary database and a backup copy. In the process, some incorrect keys were apparently pressed and more than 11,000 flights were grounded.
+Asked by Kentucky representative Hal Rogers whether the FAA planned to "build a new system separate and apart from the present system" where it would simply switch the one system to "on and the other one to off," Rocheleau described the transition as "a little more complicated than that" while committee chair Tom Cole quipped "They'll be doing it while you're in the air, Mr Rogers."
-NOTAMs are notices of changes that may affect flight plans, like construction, weather or other emergencies. Pilots on long-haul flights can be stuck reading through hundreds of pages of NOTAMs before taking off; in short, they're pretty essential.
+https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/09/floppy_disks_and_paper_strips/
-The outage last week was relatively brief, and only saw flights due to take off in a roughly three-hour window delayed or canceled before the FAA said everything was restored at 0900 Eastern Time.
+== FAA To Eliminate Floppy Disks Used In Air Traffic Control Systems ==
-https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/21/faa_outage_reasons/
+Posted by BeauHD on Monday June 09, 2025 08:30PM
-== The Morning After: The FAA grounded all US flights due to mistakenly deleted files ==
+An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom's Hardware:
-We've all done it, right?
+<blockquote>
+The head of the Federal Aviation Administration just outlined an ambitious goal to upgrade the U.S.'s air traffic control (ATC) system and bring it into the 21st century. According to NPR, most ATC towers and other facilities today feel like they're stuck in the 20th century, with controllers using paper strips and floppy disks to transfer data, while their computers run Windows 95. While this likely saved them from the disastrous CrowdStrike outage that had a massive global impact, their age is a major risk to the nation's critical infrastructure, with the FAA itself saying that the current state of its hardware is unsustainable.
-Mat Smith - January 23, 2023 7:15 AM
+"The whole idea is to replace the system. No more floppy disks or paper strips," acting FAA administrator Chris Rocheleau told the House Appropriations Committee last Wednesday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also said earlier this week," This is the most important infrastructure project that we've had in this country for decades. Everyone agrees -- this is non-partisan. Everyone knows we have to do it." The aviation industry put up a coalition pushing for ATC modernization called Modern Skies, and it even ran an ad telling us that ATC is still using floppy disks and several older technologies to keep our skies safe. [...]
-The FAA paused all domestic departures in the US on the morning of January 11th because its NOTAM or Notice to Air Missions system failed. Now we know why: deleted files. Contractors working on the Federal Aviation Administration's NOTAM system, it seems, deleted some crucial files by accident. This resulted in delays and cancellations of thousands of US flights. The issue even impacted military flights that partly relied on FAA NOTAMs: Pilots reportedly had to call around to ask for potential flight hazards.
+Currently, the White House hasn't said what this update will cost. The FAA has already put out a Request For Information to gather data from companies willing to take on the challenge of upgrading the entire system. It also announced several 'Industry Days' so companies can pitch their tech and ideas to the Transportation Department. Duffy said that the Transportation Department aims to complete the project within four years. However, industry experts say this timeline is unrealistic. No matter how long it takes, it's high time that the FAA upgrades the U.S.'s ATC system today after decades of neglect.
+</blockquote>
-Apparently, its contractors were synchronizing a main and a back-up database when they "unintentionally deleted files" that turned out to be necessary to keep the alert system running. The FAA reiterated it has "so far found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent." We’ve all accidentally deleted a file, sure. It’s just never grounded the flights of an entire country.
+https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/06/09/2249232/faa-to-eliminate-floppy-disks-used-in-air-traffic-control-systems
-https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-the-faa-grounded-all-us-flights-due-to-mistakenly-deleted-files-121557374.html
-== Aviation overhaul bill passes US House... for the third time ==
-Maybe it'll be different this year as clamors of 'I told you so' accompany the proposal
-Brandon Vigliarolo - Thu 26 Jan 2023 18:04 UTC
-The US House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly to advance a bill that would create a task force to improve the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system that was at the heart of the nationwide flight grounding earlier this month.
-Don't go thinking that NOTAM Improvement Act of 2023 will guarantee action, though. The bill's sponsor, Minnesota Republican Representative Pete Stauber, has introduced the same bill for the past two congressional sessions.
-NOTAMs are used to relay last-minute information to flight crews that could affect their routes, like a change in conditions at an airport, a surprise storm or other phenomena that endanger the flight.
+===== Cellular =====
-The 2021 and 2019 versions both passed the House as well, but fizzled out once they reached the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This year, though, things are a bit different – the US just had its first nationwide flight grounding since September 11, 2001.
+== Why you can never get any cell service on the tarmac ==
-The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was forced to ground all US departures for several hours on January 11 because NOTAM went offline. The cause was later revealed to be a pretty serious mistake on the part of some contractors working to fix a synchronization issue between the live and backup copies of the database.
+Dec. 08, 2019 - Madison Blancaflor
-In the process of working on their "fix," said contractors grounded 11,000 flights by deleting some rather important files. Per Reuters, the FAA identified the contractors as being from IT services firm Spatial Front, which The Register contacted for confirmation, but hasn't heard back.
+While just about everyone knows to turn their cellphone off or on airplane mode once the plane takes off, there's no rule against using it while your plane is on the ground. But we've probably all faced the struggle of trying to use our phones on the airport tarmac, only to get caught in an endless loading cycle.
-The FAA said in a letter to lawmakers seen by the newswire that all Spatial Front employees directly involved in the deletion had their access to FAA buildings and systems terminated.
+I've experienced it personally on many occasions. I'll want to send a quick text to friends or family to update them that I'm about to be unavailable for a bit. Or I'll remember last minute that I wanted to download an episode of the Netflix show I'm currently bingeing for the flight. But more times than not, I'm unable to get a stable connection.
-https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/26/notam_overhaul_passes_house/
+https://thepointsguy.com/airline/slow-connection-airport-tarmacs/
-== FAA Says Computer System Update Should Prevent Another Glitch That Grounded 11,000 Planes ==
+== Exclusive: FAA Investigates If It's Safer to Leave Cellphones On ==
-The FAA announced an update to its pilot-alert system as lawmakers also look at ways to study and modernize the database.
+G and 5G signals might help warn pilots when their GPS is being spoofed
-Nikki Main - 30 January 2023
+Mark Harris - 02 Sep 2021
-The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has implemented computer system changes to combat outages like the one that occurred on January 11, resulting in more than 11,000 flight disruptions.
+The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been quietly funding tests with live cellphones in light aircraft cockpits as a possible counter-measure to GPS spoofing attacks, Spectrum has learned.
-Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen wrote a letter outlining the changes. In the letter obtained by Reuters, Nolen said that the FAA introduced a one-hour delay for database synchronization, which he said should prevent any inaccurate file alerts from immediately reaching the backup database.
+The series of tests, which occurred this summer in the skies over Virginia, used commercial smartphones connecting to standard 4G and 5G wireless networks operated by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, according to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC).
-https://gizmodo.com/faa-notam-airlines-ground-stop-1850049706
+The phones were running an app developed by the Mitre Corporation's Center for Advanced Aviation Systems Development, a federally-funded research center that provides the FAA with advanced technical capabilities in systems engineering, mathematics, and computer science.
-== US warns aging air-traffic control code won't be fixed until 2030 ==
+https://spectrum.ieee.org/faa-tested-4g-5g-flights
-NOTAM chance in hell this stuff is getting sorted soon despite outage
+== Aircraft can't land safely due to interference with upcoming 5G C-band broadband service ==
-Brandon Vigliarolo - Tue 7 Feb 2023 20:30 UTC
+Expect flight delays and diversions, US Federal Aviation Administation warns
-The aging computer system that was behind the grounding of flights across the US last month will need until 2030 to be fully upgraded, the Federal Aviation Administration said, leaving US government leaders questioning why.
+Katyanna Quach Wed 8 Dec 2021 21:50 UTC
-On January 11 the FAA grounded all domestic aircraft for the first time since the 2001 terrorist attacks when its Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) servers, which provide critical information to pilots and air crews about flight safety or route planning, went down. The issue was traced, as it so often is, to someone deleting the wrong file, but fixing this apparently takes a lot of time.
+The new 5G C-band wireless broadband service expected to rollout on 5 January 2022 in the US will disrupt local radio signals and make it difficult for airplanes to land safely in harsh weather conditions, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
-Politicians were predictably outraged. In hearings before the Congressional Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Tuesday, several representatives referred to the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) as outdated, while Colin Allred (D-TX) said 2030 was an "unacceptably long time" to wait for improvements.
+Pilots rely on radio altimeter readings to figure out when and where an aircraft should carry out a series of operations to prepare for touchdown. But the upcoming 5G C-band service beaming from cell towers threatens to interfere with these signals, the FAA warned in two reports.
-https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/07/faa_notam_air_traffic/
+Flights may have to be delayed or restricted at certain airports as the new broadband service comes into effect next year. The change could affect some 6,834 airplanes and 1,828 helicopters. The cost to operators is expected to be $580,890.
+https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/aircraft_5g_interference/
+== FAA urges airlines to replace altimeters that can’t filter out 5G signals ==
+Better late than never: FCC asked aviation industry to fix problem in early 2020.
+Jon Brodkin - 5/4/2022, 9:36 AM
-==== Washington DC - June 2023 ====
+The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly urging airlines to retrofit or replace altimeters that receive transmissions from outside their allotted frequencies. The FAA is meeting Wednesday "with telecom and airline industry officials on a push to retrofit and ultimately replace some airplane radio altimeters that could face interference from C-Band 5G wireless service," Reuters reported Tuesday.
-== Flights resume at DC-area airports after equipment issue grounded all planes ==
+https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/05/faa-urges-airlines-to-replace-altimeters-that-cant-filter-out-5g-signals/
-FOX 5 DC Digital Team - June 25, 2023 6:31PM / Updated 8:45PM
+== FAA to airlines: 5G-sensitive radio altimeters have to go ==
-Flights resumed at D.C.-area airports Sunday afternoon shortly after a communications equipment issue caused the Federal Aviation Administration to issue a ground stop.
+Affected jet equipment will need retrofitting and eventual replacement, agency warns
+Brandon Vigliarolo - Wed 4 May 2022 14:31 UTC
+The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) met with airline and telecom officials yesterday to present its latest solution to the instrument interference problem presented by C-band 5G: replace the affected equipment.
+A letter from the FAA's head of aviation safety, Chris Rocheleau, proposed the meeting to establish a timeline for retrofitting or replacing radar altimeters in US airliners that are affected by 5G C-band signals, Reuters reported.
+G C-band was expected to roll out in the beginning of 2022, but was put on hold until July while the FAA, airlines, and jet manufacturers seek a resolution. A number of different planes were affected, including most of the Boeing 737 family, due to their use of radio altimeters, which use radio signals to determine the plane's distance from the ground.
+https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/04/faa_5g_altimeters/
+== FAA Wants US Airlines To Retrofit, Replace Radio Altimeters ==
+Posted by BeauHD on Thursday May 05, 2022 03:00AM
+The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will meet Wednesday with telecom and airline industry officials on a push to retrofit and ultimately replace some airplane radio altimeters that could face interference from C-Band 5G wireless service. Reuters reports:
+<blockquote>The altimeters give data on a plane's height above the ground and are crucial for bad-weather landings, but airline concerns about wireless interference from a planned 5G rollout led to disruptions at some U.S. airports earlier this year. The FAA wants to use the meeting to establish "an achievable timeframe to retrofit/replace radar altimeters in the U.S. fleet," according to a previously unreported letter from the FAA's top aviation safety official Chris Rocheleau reviewed by Reuters. It also asked aviation representatives "to offer options and commit to actions necessary to meet these objectives."</blockquote>
+https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/05/05/008229/faa-wants-us-airlines-to-retrofit-replace-radio-altimeters
+== AT&T and Verizon give FAA another year to remedy C-band 5G interference issues ==
+Airlines are retrofitting altimeters with radio frequency filters.
+Kris Holt - June 17th, 2022
+AT&T and Verizon have given the Federal Aviation Administration another year to fix altimeter issues as they look to roll out C-band 5G services around airports. “We believe we have identified a path that will continue to enable aviation and 5G C-band wireless to safely co-exist,” acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement.
+Under a phased plan, operators of regional aircraft with radio altimeters that are most susceptible to interference are required to fit them with radio frequency filters by the end of this year. That work is underway and the FAA says it will continue on an expedited basis.
+The agency also says it worked with AT&T and Verizon to identify airports where they can bolster service with minimal risk of upending flight schedules. The FAA plans to monitor the pace of RF filter retrofits on altimeters too.
+https://www.engadget.com/faa-c-band-5g-verizon-att-airports-altimeters-183206836.html
-The ground stop impacted Reagan National Airport (DCA), Dulles International Airport (IAD), Baltimore/Washington International Airport (BWI) and Richmond International Airport (RIC). This prevented takeoffs and landings, so inbound flights were being diverted, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said.
-Departing flights are now back on track, according to the FAA, and flights from New York bound for D.C. continue. Flights from the West Coast, Midwest and Florida bound for D.C.-area airports have also resumed.
-https://www.fox5dc.com/news/flights-resume-at-dc-area-airports-after-equipment-issue-grounded-all-planes
-==== Radios ====
+===== Radios =====
 == Airlines’ faulty altimeters spur FCC plan to regulate wireless receivers ==