美国国家公共电台 NPR--Air travel ground to a halt Wednesday morning as FAA's computer system went down

Air travel ground to a halt Wednesday morning as FAA's computer system went down

Transcript¹

Air travel in the United States has been a mess Wednesday morning after a computer system for the Federal Aviation Administration went down - causing a cascade² of flight delays and cancellations.

DWANE BROWN, HOST:

Commercial airline flights are now taking off again at airports across the United States. But expect significant flight delays, if you're expecting someone in, or cancellations throughout the day today as the nation's aviation system recovers from a critical system outage. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a temporary ground stop after its system for notifying pilots of potential hazards failed overnight. FAA says the system is back online, but the failure forced airlines to cancel more than 800 flights so far, and more than 4,500 flights are delayed. Joining us to talk more about this and give us an update on the situation is NPR's David Schaper. Hi, David. What is this notification system that caused this outage?

DAVID SCHAPER, BYLINE³: Well, Dwane, it's called the NOTAM system, and it stands for Notice to Air Missions. The FAA uses this system to notify pilots and other airline operations personnel about potential hazards they might encounter.

BROWN: Right.

SCHAPER: This could be a runway closure or construction obstacles at an airport or even the presence of flocks of birds that could lead to a bird strike - anything that's abnormal that might be in the airplane's flight path from takeoff until landing and that could affect the flight. These usually are notices that are somewhat last-minute and not known far enough in advance to be communicated through other means.

FAA alerts indicate that this NOTAM system failed overnight. And while all departing flights were halted for a few hours, planes that were already in the air prior to the system outage were able to continue safely to their destinations. As you said, departures have resumed now, but it's really going to take quite a while for airport operations to get caught up again. Anyone traveling today should check with their airline early and often to see if their flight is going to be delayed or even canceled.

BROWN: Yeah, David, this is a bit of an antiquated⁴ system. Any idea what might have caused this outage? I know the FAA has kind of downplayed a cyberattack.

SCHAPER: Yeah. We don't know yet, but the FAA says it is looking into the cause. The Department of Transportation and the White House both initially⁵ said there's no indication of a cyberattack, as you said, but President Biden said this morning we really don't know what the cause is. He talked to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and ordered an investigation⁶ and asked the secretary to report back directly to him. But, you know, there is reason for concern here. Our aviation safety system is built on redundancy, so failures like this shouldn't happen.

BROWN: Yeah.

SCHAPER: But this is a major disruption of a system that is essential for flight operations - and I should say not just for commercial airline flights, but almost all aircraft, except for the military system. And it appears to be one of the most significant FAA outages in years. Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington, who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which oversees⁷ aviation and the FAA, put out a statement earlier about this outage, saying that, as the committee prepares for FAA reauthorization legislation, we will be looking into what caused this outage and how redundancy plays a role in preventing future outages because the public needs a resilient air transportation system.

BROWN: And, of course, David, this comes on the heels of that huge Southwest operational meltdown - Southwest Airlines - over the holidays. What do you think this says about the air transportation system and how fragile it is?

SCHAPER: Well, you know, the incidents don't appear to be related at all. But, as I said before, there is cause for concern here. Airlines, in some cases, like Southwest, have antiquated technology, and their IT systems are critical to operations. The same is true of the FAA. And upgrading these essential systems is hugely expensive, but must be done to create a safe national air travel system.

BROWN: We'll leave it there. David Schaper, thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 cascade   

n.小瀑布，喷流；层叠；vi.成瀑布落下

参考例句：

• She watched the magnificent waterfall cascade down the mountainside.她看着壮观的瀑布从山坡上倾泻而下。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls.她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网