The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated that the worker “unintentionally deleted files” from the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) database.
According to a statement from the agency, the shutdown occurred while the contractors worked to “correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database.” So far, investigators have discovered no evidence of malicious intent or a cyberattack.
The FAA stated that an unidentified contract employee deleted the files while working to synchronize the primary and backup NOTAM databases.
The problem with the NOTAM system was discovered by the FAA while the contractor was “working to correct synchronization between the live primary database and a backup database.”
After the NOTAM system went down a day earlier, more than 11,000 flights were delayed and at least 1,300 were cancelled on January 11. Flights across the United States were grounded for the first time since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The sources for this piece include an article in NBCNews.