US House eyes creating task force on flawed aviation computer system

The US House of Representatives plans to take up bipartisan legislation next week to establish a FAA task force to improve a pilot messaging database that failed last week, disrupting 11,000 flights. The outage of the Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) database prompted the Jan. 11 nationwide groundstop of US passenger traffic, the first since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The NOTAM system provides pilots, flight crews and other users of US airspace with critical safety notices. The legislation would require an FAA task force to consider improvements, including updates "to ensure the stability, resiliency and cybersecurity of the NOTAM computer system," said Representative Pete Stauber, a Republican sponsor of the bill. Stauber said the failure shows "the urgent need for updates and improvements... to keep air traffic moving safely in our skies." On Thursday, the FAA's initial review found contract personnel "unintentionally deleted files" disrupting the NOTAM system, adding the issue occurred while personnel were working "to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database." The FAA said it has "found no evidence of a cyber-attack or malicious intent." FAA acting Administrator Billy Nolen held a virtual briefing for congressional staff on Friday but did not identify the contractor involved in the failure. The FAA next week plans to hold a briefing for House lawmakers.<br/>