Create account

Coverage dated January 19, 2023

FAA Says Contractor Unintentionally Deleted Files Before Outage Disrupted Thousands of Flights

Headline from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Around 10,000 flights were delayed because of the outage of a pilot-alerting system.

NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's own description from its feed. We collect headlines and these descriptions, not full articles; read the original reporting below.

Earlier updates in this story

Read the reports

Reports & sources

13 articles, oldest first.

  1. NPR

    FAA contractors deleted files — and inadvertently grounded thousands of flights (opens NPR)

    Published

    NPR's feed description

    The agency's preliminary review determined it was unintentional as the contractors worked "to correct synchronization" between databases.

  2. Engadget

    The FAA grounded all US flights because contractors mistakenly deleted files (opens Engadget)

    Published

    Engadget's feed description

    The contractors working on the Federal Aviation Administration's NOTAM system apparently deleted files by accident, leading to the delays and cancellations of thousands of US flights..

  3. NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

    FAA Says Contractor Unintentionally Deleted Files Before Outage Disrupted Thousands of Flights (opens NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth)

    Published

    NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth's feed description

    Around 10,000 flights were delayed because of the outage of a pilot-alerting system.

  4. FOX 5 DC

    FAA: Contractors unintentionally deleted files causing outage that grounded thousands of flights (opens FOX 5 DC)

    Published

    FOX 5 DC's feed description

    The Federal Aviation Administration says a mistake made by contractors caused an outage that grounded thousands of flights across the U.S.

  5. Portland Press Herald

    FAA says contractors mistakenly deleted files, causing system outage that grounded planes nationwide (opens Portland Press Herald)

    Published

    Portland Press Herald's feed description

    The FAA said contractors working on a system that notifies pilots of potential hazards 'unintentionally deleted files,' leading to a nationwide grounding of planes.

  6. Washington Times

    FAA says contractors mistakenly deleted files while working on the pilot-notification system (opens Washington Times)

    Published

    Washington Times's feed description

    The Federal Aviation Administration says contractors “unintentionally deleted files” while working on a live database and backup of its key pilot-notification system, prompting the unusual outage that grounded planes nationwide last week.

  7. Breitbart News

    Oops: FAA Says 'Unintentionally Deleted Files' Drove Jan 11 Flight Chaos (opens Breitbart News)

    Published

    Breitbart News's feed description

    The FAA admitted "unintentionally deleted files" caused the January 11 airline ground stop and nationwide travel mayhem that followed.

Identical headlines usually mean shared wire copy. They are counted as separate articles but are not independent confirmation.

FAA Says Contractor Unintentionally Deleted Files Before Outage Disrupted Thousands of Flights | Since Then