PNN – Following the cancellation of over 2,500 flights in the United States, an official from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the disruption was caused by an equipment issue, adding that they are working to determine the exact cause.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network citing Al Jazeera, an official from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced—following the cancellation of more than 2,500 flights in the U.S. on Saturday—that the disruption stemmed from an equipment problem, and that efforts are underway to identify the precise cause.
The FAA official further explained that the disruption was the result of an incorrect installation, a misconfiguration, or a failure in one of the network routers.
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, in remarks made a few hours ago, sought to downplay the ongoing issues in his country, claiming: Following the disruption that occurred yesterday, Friday, we have returned to full, normal flight operations. When the order to halt flights was issued, there were 500 aircraft in the air, all of which landed safely.
The U.S. Secretary of Transportation stated that these disruptions occurred during maintenance operations to upgrade cabling from analog to digital. We are using aging air traffic control equipment—decades old—that needs to be replaced. It remains unclear whether the flight disruptions stemmed from a technical issue with routers or from operational inefficiencies. The failure of the air navigation systems was not the result of a cyber-attack!
In this regard, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives told Fox News that the modernization of the air traffic control system should not become a partisan issue. There is no need for an investigation to understand the necessity of upgrading the air traffic control system, given that some of its equipment dates back to the 1980s.