Introduction
Yesterday was not a great day to be traveling because a major computer failure stopped all planes across the country from taking off – for hours. We’ll tell you what went wrong.
Plus – why President Biden is under fire… for a similar thing former President Trump did.
Those stories and more today on… Notice News.
Computer Failure Grounds U.S. Flight Takeoffs for Hours
Happy Thursday everybody I’m Jonathan here at Notice HQ and our big story right now: this was the scene at airports across the country yesterday as passengers were stranded because of a nation-wide travel shutdown.
It’s all thanks to a major computer system failure the night before. That system, which notifies aircrews about things like closed runways and bird hazards, left pilots without the ability to review safety information before takeoff.
As a result, the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, ordered all airlines to pause domestic departures on Wednesday. Over 4,500 flights were delayed, and nearly 800 were canceled, in and out of the U.S., and experts say this will likely lead to a domino effect of additional delays and cancellations throughout the week.
The White House says there’s no evidence yet that the grounded flights were the result of a cyberattack. These problems come just weeks after Southwest airlines canceled more than 16,000 flights following winter storms around Christmas and New Years, mostly in part due to outdated technology.
The government and airlines are blaming each other for these failures. Critics say, it’s time for some major tech upgrades. The FAA’s website says it’s modernizing the system that brought travel to a halt on Wednesday, and the federal government is going to spend some 25 billion dollars on upgrading our system of airports and air traffic-control systems.
Flights were allowed to resume yesterday morning just before 9 am, and the government says there will be a full investigation.
Headlines
Here’s what else is making news right now.
The Buffalo Bills’ Damar Hamil has been released from the hospital. His doctors say he’s making good progress, but full recovery could take months.
Northern California is bracing for even more rain with more than 6 million people under flood alerts. As of Wednesday, 17 people have died from the extreme weather there.
And – good news for Disney fans. Reversing an earlier decision, the company says they will not be rising prices on some park-related costs like parking, ride photos, and annual passes.
Classified Documents Found in Biden Office
President Biden is under fire right now after it was revealed earlier this week classified documents were found in an office he used while he was a private citizen.
Classified documents contain information that’s top secret, that the U.S government doesn’t want falling into the hands of our enemies. You need special permission to view and handle these documents, and most people definitely can’t take them home.
The president’s lawyers say that around a dozen documents were found at an office in this building, which Biden used from 2017 to 2020. They say documents were found in a locked closet in early November, and were turned over to the National Archives – where they’re supposed to be – the next day. Speaking at a conference in Mexico, the president said this.
Sound – Biden: “I was briefed about this discovery and surprised to learn that there were any government records that were taken there to that office.”
Former President Trump got in trouble for the same thing, with the FBI even raiding Trump’s Florida home Mar-a-Lago in August to retrieve about 300 classified documents.
Republicans are calling it a double standard.
Sound: “They raid all these homes, what about Joe Biden’s? I think he’s got numerous homes. When are they going to do that?”
But experts say it’s not an exact comparison. Paul Charlton is a former prosecutor for the federal government.
Sound: “The allegations as it relates to President Trump are much different. When the National Archives asked for President Trump and his team to return those documents, they returned some documents, but not all documents. a grand jury subpoena was issued. Some, but not all documents were returned. Search warrant was issued. and sure enough, a number of other remaining top secret documents were still in former President Trump’s possession.”
The Justice Department is now investigating all of this, and the Biden Administration says they’re cooperating fully. For Notice News, I’m Angie Castillo in Washington.
Conclusion
That’s it for today but you can learn more about classified documents and the rules around them on our website, NoticeNews.com.
Maeve will be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.