Network failure during upgrade caused air chaos in the US
Journalist, postgraduate in marketing and master's in communication and consumption. Specialist in communication and consumption and political analysis.
TL;DR
- An FAA infrastructure update failure caused a nationwide flight shutdown on Friday, January 13th.
- The problem occurred during the replacement of copper lines with fiber optic cables by contractor L3Harris.
- Over 1.5 million passengers were affected, with thousands of flights canceled or delayed.
- The failure overloaded equipment and compromised communication between air traffic controllers and pilots, also affecting radar systems.
- US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stated the failure during the upgrade caused the disruption.
- The FAA suspended takeoffs nationwide from 3:54 PM to 8:15 PM Brasília time.
- Cyberattacks, foreign interference, or AI involvement have been ruled out as causes.
- The investigation will determine fault between the contractor L3Harris and the equipment.
- Operations are expected to return to normal by Sunday, with airlines still facing challenges.
- Duffy requested an additional $50 billion from Congress to update the agency's infrastructure.