Biden Briefed on Massive FAA Outage, White House Says “No Evidence of Cyber Attack”

The White House Announces Wednesday that President Biden has been briefed on the massive FAA outage, though asserting that there’s no evidence it was caused by any cyberattack. 

“The President has been briefed” Secretary of Transportation “This morning on the FAA network outage,” White House Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre tweeted prior to 7:40 a.m. ET. “There is no evidence of a cyberattack at this point, but the President directed DOT [Department of Transportation] to conduct a full investigation into the causes. The FAA will provide regular updates.”

An FAA system failure prompted massive flight delays Wednesday morning. All domestic departures were stopped at 9 a.m. ET. The Federal Aviation Administration indicated that departures from domestic airports were being rescheduled at Newark Liberty and Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson airports. “due to air traffic congestion in those areas.” 

Following an outage, the FAA indicated that they are still working to fully restore Notice to Air Missions. 

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The FAA ordered all domestic flights to be halted until 9 a.m. ET “to allow the agency to validate the integrity of flight and safety information,” The agency’s most recent update stated. 

President Biden talks to reporters, before he board Marine One on Wednesday, January 11, 2023, with first lady Jill Biden. 
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

According to FlightAware, more than 2,500 delayed flights were reported within the United States at 8 AM Eastern. This is higher than the total number of delayed flights the previous day. More than 150 flights have been cancelled. These numbers are expected to increase.

Today’s schedule included more than 21,000 domestic flights and around 1,840 international flights. International flights According to Cirium, there are expected to be flights to the U.S.

A message board lists departures from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington (Va.) on Wednesday, January 11. 2023. 
(AP Photo/Nathan Ellgren)

Biden addressed Wednesday’s FAA issue before he left the White House. Biden stated that he was just briefed by Pete Buttigieg (Transport Secretary), who said they had not yet identified the problem.

“I just spoke to Buttigieg. They don’t know what the cause is. But I was on the phone with him about 10 minutes,” Biden said. “I told him to report directly to me when they find out. Air traffic can still land safely, just not take off right now. We don’t know what the cause of it is.”

A Southwest plane lands in Arlington, Va. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. Flights were halted across the United States due to an outage at Federal Aviation Administration on Wednesday. There were hundreds of delays at all airports.  
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

In a tweet, Buttigieg stated that he was in contact with the FAA to monitor the situation.

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The East Coast was the most affected by delays, but they are now spreading west. According to Greg Chin, an airport spokesperson, all international departures from Miami International Airport have been delayed since 6:30 AM.

This report was contributed by The Associated Press.

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