Tallahassee’s airport was minimally affected by a computer glitch at the Federal Aviation Administration that grounded flights across the country Wednesday morning.
Eight flights were impacted – two were canceled and the remaining ones were delayed – by the computer outage, said Deputy Director of Aviation, Jim Durwin.
Throughout the morning the airport updated its social media feeds to alert passengers. As the FAA lifted the ground stop, Durwin said there could be continued delays as planes around the country begin to take off.
“When a big impact like this happens it, takes some time to get everything worked out. Everybody is ready to go, but they’ve got a flow control,” Durwin said. “There will be some lingering issues.”
He noted that flights could have continued taking off, but passenger safety is always top of mind in aviation.
“With a computer outage things can still operate but it’s not optimal,” Durwin said. “Out of an abundance of caution to make sure we’re maintaining safety, the decision was made (to pause flights) until the system was brought back up fully.”
All U.S. departures that had been delayed since about 7:30 a.m. were cleared to fly just before 9 a.m.
More than 4,000 flights within, into, or out of the United States were delayed just before 9a.m. ET, according to the tracking website FlightAware, and over 700 flights in the country were canceled.
From USA TODAY:Live updates: Thousands of flights delayed across US following FAA computer outage
The computer program, Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) system, provides pilots with safety information for the nation’s airports.
NOTAMs lists potential hazards and conditions that can change flights – from runway construction or possible icing to a change in an aeronautical facility or flight service.
Pilots are required to consult NOTAMs before starting every flight.
USAToday contributed to this article
