“The FAA is working with the airlines to resume normal air traffic operations after an automation problem yesterday led to delays and cancellations at airports in the Washington DC area”, it said as the problems first arose.
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17 that the Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the upgrade to the En Route Automation Modernization system in the Leesburg, Va., facility as the trigger that caused 492 delays and 476 cancelations.
Flights from New Jersey’s Newark Liberty worldwide Airport as well as those departing from John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports in New York were also affected. The technical issues were resolved at approximately 4pm.
It was reported that airport arrivals and departures were at a minimum. The problem is not believed to be caused by any accident or hacking.
The FAA said Saturday that flights would return to normal after scores of airplanes were delayed in New York, Washington and North Carolina due to a malfunction at an air traffic control center in Virginia.
American urged passengers to plan accordingly by checking their flights on the airline’s website.
One of the hardest hit airports is Baltimore-Washington global Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Miller Roberts, 40, of Dallas was trying to fly from Baltimore to Kansas City to set up a robotics display at the Missouri State Fair but was caught in a flight delay for more than four hours. On Sunday, the agency confirmed that the software upgrade causing the issues was performed on the Eram computer system, but that there was “no indication that the problem is related to any inherent problems with the En Route Automation Modernisation system, which has had a greater than 99.99 availability rate since it was completed nationwide earlier this year”.
The FAA said “technical issues” at an air traffic control center in Virginia were to blame for the delay.
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“I think everyone realizes this is out of our control”, he said.
