U. S. Congress interrogates head of FAA because of security and disruptions in air transportation
2023.02.16 04:12
U. S. Congress interrogates head of FAA because of security and disruptions in air transportation
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – In a Senate hearing on Wednesday, the nation’s top aviation official discussed the safety risks posed by “complacency” and stated that the Federal Aviation Administration is juggling three competing systems for controlling US airspace.
The acting administrator of the FAA, Billy Nolen, addressed the software outage that halted flight departures nationwide last month, a near-collision between an American Airlines plane and a Delta Air Lines plane on a JFK airport runway last month, another near-collision between a FedEx cargo plane and a Southwest plane earlier this month in Austin, Texas, and other recent safety issues affecting the aviation industry.
He promised in a letter last month that the work to upgrade the NOTAM safety messaging system, which failed in January, would be mostly finished “by mid-2025.”
The FAA stated in a letter to Congress at the beginning of February that it intends to significantly accelerate the replacement of its out-of-date Notice To Air Missions (NOTAM) safety system, whose malfunction caused nationwide air travel to be grounded in January. A month ago, thousands of flights were delayed or canceled as a result of the software failure and ground stop. In addition, the regulator stated that it has taken steps to prevent the meltdown from occurring again.
According to the FAA, files pertaining to the key pilot safety system were accidentally deleted by a contractor working for the agency. Information about a runway with no lights, a tower near an airport lacking the necessary safety lights, or an air show taking place in the area could be included in NOTAM messages.
The FAA claims that it has taken measures to strengthen the system and that it has found no evidence of a cyberattack or malicious intent.
Concerns about the FAA’s safety systems’ inadequateness have also been raised by the near-collision incidents.
Although under pressure, Nolen admitted that vulnerabilities remain in the NOTAM safety messaging system, he stated to the Senate Commerce Committee that he believes that “the fixes that we have in place today will prevent the reoccurrence of the event that we saw in January.”
“Can I sit here today and assure you that the NOTAM system will never face another problem?” No, I can’t, “Nolen responded.
Two people must be present when programming changes to the system, and there is a delay before changes are synced between multiple redundant systems, according to FAA changes.
According to Nolen, only about 20% of NOTAM users use the older system that failed first. He said that many airlines and pilots use a newer system that went down when changes to the old database were synchronized with the new system.
According to Nolen, the FAA is also in charge of three overlapping approaches to managing the nation’s airspace: the traditional air traffic control system, an upgraded system called NextGen, and systems for handling drones, space launches, and future aircraft.
Nolen said, “We have a lot of work ahead of us to sustain, implement, and plan for all of these systems.”
According to a recent report from the National Transportation Safety Board, a widebody Boeing 777 belonging to American Airlines crossed an active runway without receiving permission from air traffic control, resulting in the aborted takeoff of a narrowbody Delta 737 last month. The FedEx and Southwest incident at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, which involved two aircraft, is also under investigation by the NTSB. According to the FAA, the FedEx Boeing 767 was cleared to land on Austin’s Runway 18 Left when a near-collision occurred.
In prepared testimony to the Senate Commerce committee on Tuesday, Nolen stated that he has ordered a comprehensive review of the agency and requested additional funding to meet the demands, including modernizing the outdated computer system that failed.
In a memo, Nolen wrote, “We are experiencing the safest period in aviation history, but we cannot take this for granted.” Recent events emphasize the need to avoid complacency.
One focal point of the security audit group will decide “whether there are different episodes that look like ones we have found as of late.” Additionally, it will investigate ways to better integrate the FAA’s air traffic control division into the agency’s overall safety initiatives.
