All US domestic planes grounded after software glitch

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has reported a failure of the crucial Notice to Air Missions System

A software glitch in the US Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) system used to send essential information to aircraft has prompted the regulator to halt further domestic departures in the US.

The issue affected the Notice to Air Missions System (NOTAM) on Wednesday morning, the FAA said in a statement. This is used to communicate crucial data to air traffic control.

The regulator said the mishap was affecting all flights across the US and that its technical staff were performing validation checks and trying to reboot the system, but offered no indication of how long it would take.

Cleared Update No. 2 for all stakeholders: ⁰⁰The FAA is still working to fully restore the Notice to Air Missions system following an outage. ⁰⁰While some functions are beginning to come back on line, National Airspace System operations remain limited.

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) January 11, 2023

Later in the day, the agency said it had ordered the suspension of domestic departures for several hours, as the system was gradually restoring functionality.

Delays and cancellations of flights were previously reported by US media, with over 700 planes said to be affected.

US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg briefed President Joe Biden about the outage, according to White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. There is “no evidence of a cyberattack at this point,” she added.

Canada buys ‘high-priority’ gift for Ukraine

In a first, Ottawa will buy a NASAMS air-defense system from the US to give it to Kiev, defense minister has said

Canada will purchase a National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from the US in order to donate it to Ukraine, Defense Minister Anita Anand announced on Tuesday.

In a statement that came after the meeting of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden in Mexico, the Department of National Defense described the move as “a high-priority donation.” This gift is also expected to become “the first Canadian donation of an air defense system to Ukraine,” it added.

The announcement said that this assistance, valued at about $406 million, comes from the additional $500 million in military aid to Kiev announced by Ottawa in mid-November.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky thanked Trudeau “for helping us to protect our sky” with the NASAMS.

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The NASAMS system, which can shoot down missiles, drones and warplanes, will enhance Ukraine’s air defense amid Russia’s attack on its military and energy infrastructure, Ottawa said. Moscow intensified its strikes on these Ukrainian facilities in early October in response to recurring sabotage on Russian soil orchestrated by Kiev.

Ukraine is already operating US-supplied NASAMS, with the Pentagon having committed to send eight such systems to Kiev.

However, in mid-November the combat activities of Ukrainian air defenses sent shockwaves across the entire world and reignited fears of WWIII after a Ukrainian missile fell on a Polish village, killing two civilians. These concerns were underpinned by Warsaw initially blaming Moscow for the incident. Later, however, it conceded that the projectile had been launched by Kiev’s forces.

Russia has repeatedly warned the West against providing Ukraine with weapons. In October, commenting on Washington’s promise to supply Kiev with NASAMS, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov reiterated that this aid “would prolong the conflict and make it more painful for the Ukrainian side,” arguing also that it would “not change the final result” of the hostilities.