House passes bill to improve FAA system that grounded flights

WASHINGTON - The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan bill aimed at reviewing and recommending improvements to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) NOTAM pilot alert system that went haywire earlier this month, Karl Evers-Hillstrom reports for The Hill. Continue reading original article.

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

27 January 2023 - The Federal Aviation Administration was forced to ground all flights in the U.S. after the Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) systems. This bill would update the NOTAM system and protect it from cyber attacks to prevent future outages. The House of Representatives passed the bill 424-4, which is the third time such an update was passed by the House. The Senate declined to take up the bill the first two times it passed.

“Today the House passed several bills to strengthen the reliability and effectiveness of the FAA’s NOTAM system and make federal disaster programs work better for disaster victims,” said Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO). “The recent NOTAM system meltdown highlighted a huge vulnerability in our air transportation system and underscores the need to address the leadership vacuum at FAA. As a professional pilot, I use the NOTAM system on a regular basis, and I know firsthand the importance of ensuring that it’s reliable and functional. Congressman Stauber’s bill will help institute much needed improvements to the FAA’s NOTAM system, and Congresswoman González-Colón’s bills will lead to more transparency and less red tape in disaster programs.”

“Failures of the NOTAM system earlier this month stressed the need to upgrade the program to ensure the safety of pilots, their crews, and passengers,” said Rep. Pete Stauber (R-MN), who introduced the bill. “I’ve heard from many pilots over the years about the vulnerabilities of the NOTAM system and my bill has previously passed the House twice. It’s now time for the Senate to act and pass this important legislation before another failure of the NOTAM system occurs.”

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics