What caused the nationwide plane chaos?
Microsoft and the company behind the FAA’s new AI-powered SMART system have something to say: It wasn’t us.
On Friday afternoon, thousands of flights were delayed after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered all planes grounded nationwide because of communications issues.
At a press conference at the White House Friday night, Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no evidence of a cyberattack or attack caused by “SI” — the administration’s preferred term for artificial intelligence.
Some online had speculated that the problem was related to the SMART system, a tool from Air Space Intelligence that uses AI to monitor air traffic and prevent delays. In September, POLITICO reported that airline industry veterans were initially nervous about the new system because of the FAA’s vague description.
The SMART system began rolling out to wider use this week.
But on Friday, ASI wrote in an X post that their system wasn’t connected to the massive FAA outage.
“The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC.,” the company said.
Microsoft had its own problems this week, as a worldwide outage knocked out services like email for hours, snarling the workweek at major companies and inspiring memes from office workers. Some wondered online if Microsoft was connected.
It quickly shot those suspicions down.
“We have no indication that the FAA’s nationwide ground stop is related to any Microsoft services,” the company wrote on X.
At the press conference Friday night, Mullin confirmed Microsoft was not to blame. Mullin and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed antiquated equipment that was “overwhelmed” for the outage.
Duffy, at the same press conference, demanded $50 billion from Congress to update FAA equipment.
The FAA outage is nearly unprecedented, with only one other nationwide ground stop since federal aviation officials famously froze US airspace during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The ground stop was lifted on Friday night, but not before more than 5,000 flights were canceled, according to FlightAware.com.
Photos from airports across the country showed crowds forming as passengers were taken off flights and planes lining up on the tarmac.
