Contract personnel deleted software files: US on mega aviation outage

The US has blamed the third-party contractors for last week's mega outage that grounded thousands of flights, saying that "contract personnel unintentionally deleted files"

United states of america, USA, Trump, Capitol
The US Capitol is reflected in the skylight roof of the visitors center in Washington, US. Photo: Reuters
IANS San Francisco
2 min read Last Updated : Jan 21 2023 | 3:03 PM IST

The US has blamed the third-party contractors for last week's mega outage that grounded thousands of flights, saying that "contract personnel unintentionally deleted files" while working on the 30-year-old software.

In a statement, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that the files were deleted "while working to correct synchronisation between the live primary database and a backup database".

"The agency has so far found no evidence of a cyber-attack or malicious intent. The FAA continues to investigate the circumstances surrounding the outage," it added.

A glitch in the FAA software, which grounded thousands of flights in the country earlier this week, is at least 30 years old and six years away from being updated.

The aviation administration said it has made the necessary repairs to the system and has taken steps to make the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system "more resilient".

The agency is acting quickly to adopt any other lessons "learned in our efforts to ensure the continuing robustness of the nation's air traffic control system".

As a result of the massive nationwide technical glitch, more than 10,000 flights in and out of the US were delayed, while more than 1,300 others were cancelled.

The CNN reported that the core operating system for the database has been around since the 1990s.

"Regardless of the improvements made to the system in recent years, it still has the heart of an 89-year-old man," a government source was quoted as saying in the report.

President Joe Biden had called for a "full investigation" into the incident.

--IANS

na/ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :USAAviation

First Published: Jan 21 2023 | 3:03 PM IST

Next Story