What is NOTAM? Feds blames crucial flight system for ground stop, nationwide delays

Flights across the United States were temporarily grounded on Wednesday as a computer outage threatened to wreak havoc throughout the country’s airports.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered domestic flights for most of the country’s airports grounded until 8 a.m. Hundreds — possibly thousands — of flights across the country are expected to be affected by delays or cancelations.

The FAA blamed the outage on an issue with its Notice to Air Mission — or NOTAM — system. The system is a crucial component of all civilian and military flights in the United States that alerts pilots to hazards or other issues they may experience during their departure, flight or arrival.

NOTAM warnings can include information about runway conditions, weather, airport construction or the presence of hazards — including drone, military or parachute activity — near an airplane’s flight path.

Before taking off, pilots should “always check” 25 nautical miles on either side of their flight path for NOTAMs that might affect their flights, according to the FAA.

The FAA initially ordered a ground stop for all domestic flights; but shortly after 7 a.m., the agency began allowing flights at two major airports — Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport — to begin departing due to air-traffic congestion.

The agency said at 7:15 a.m. it was “making progress in restoring its Notice to Air Missions system.”

President Joe Biden was briefed by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the system outage. “There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT to conduct a full investigation into the causes,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted.

Michael Williams, Breaking News reporter. Michael D. Williams is a reporter covering breaking news for The Dallas Morning News. A native of Florida, he grew up in Pensacola and graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2018. Before joining The News in 2021, he reported in Orlando, Albany, N.Y., and San Francisco.

michael.williams@dallasnews.com @michaeldamianw