U.S. aviation system 'collapses' twice a month, exposing 'huge weaknesses'

　　China News Service, January 12 (CNN) reported that on the 11th local time, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system failed, and flights within the United States were temporarily suspended.

Although the suspension measures were subsequently lifted, tens of thousands of flights were affected.

　　U.S. media reported that this is the second "collapse" of the U.S. aviation system in a month, exposing major problems such as the aging system and insufficient personnel in the U.S. aviation industry.

On January 11, 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) system malfunctioned, temporarily suspending flight departures within the United States.

The picture shows passengers at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Tens of thousands of flights are affected because a database file is damaged?

　　According to reports, on the morning of the 11th, the FAA announced that the air task notification system had failed and temporarily suspended flights within the United States.

At about 9:00 on the same day, the suspension of departure measures was lifted, but due to continued congestion, airlines continued to postpone or cancel flights.

　　CNN quoted FlightAware data from the flight information tracking website as saying that as of 18:00 ET on the 11th, more than 9,500 flights had been delayed and more than 1,300 flights had been cancelled.

　　White House Press Secretary Karina Jean-Pierre issued a statement saying that US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the failure of the air mission notification system, and there is no evidence that it is a cyber attack.

　　In a statement released on the evening of the 11th, the FAA admitted that the preliminary investigation found that the failure was caused by "a damaged database file", and stated that it would further thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident and take all necessary measures to prevent further flight interruptions.

　　According to Reuters, the chairman of the US Senate Commerce Committee, Democrat Cantwell said that the committee will investigate the cause of the computer system outage.

"The public needs a resilient air transport system," Cantwell said.

Twice in one month, accident 'unforgivable'

　　The report pointed out that this large-scale grounding is the second major accident that the US aviation industry has encountered in less than a month.

　　At the end of 2022, Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 16,000 flights within a week due to super cold waves and system aging. A large number of passengers were affected, and the airline was still deadlocked with passengers on refunds.

　　The U.S. transportation secretary said at the time that Southwest Airlines' massive flight cancellations were no longer a weather-induced event, but a "systemic failure" within Southwest Airlines.

　　After this large-scale grounding accident, there have been many voices in the United States demanding that the aviation system be upgraded.

　　"It's common to have weather problems, but I've never experienced a massive (flight) cancellation affecting an entire country," said a passenger who experienced two groundings.

　　Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said, "This catastrophic system failure by the FAA clearly demonstrates that America's transportation network is in dire need of a major upgrade."

　　Graves, chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said the two accidents were "inexcusable" and highlighted "the enormous weakness of the U.S. air transportation system."

He believes that the FAA is seriously short-staffed. "The FAA is not run on its own — there needs to be skilled, dedicated, and permanent leadership in every position throughout the agency, starting with the Office of the Administrator."

　　CNN reported that the FAA is currently operating without a permanent leader.

President Joe Biden's nominee to head the group, Philip Washington, has not only been questioned by Republicans for his limited aviation experience, but has also been mentioned in a search warrant related to a political corruption probe in Los Angeles.

Biden recently nominated this person again and expressed the government's support for him.