FAA cracks down on contractor linked to January flight grounding

Employees of a small government contractor linked to the massive US air-traffic error that grounded thousands of flights earlier this month have had their access revoked to the computer system that failed. 

The Federal Aviation Administration provided the information to Congress on Wednesday, according to a person familiar with the update to lawmakers. The FAA also identified the name of the contractor for the first time, Spatial Front Inc., said the person, who asked not to be identified discussing the sensitive case.

Unnamed “personnel” inadvertently deleted a data file while troubleshooting the FAA’s computer system that dispenses safety notices to pilots, leading to its failure on Jan. 11, the agency said last week. Because aviators must have that information before departing, the FAA halted all departures for almost two hours early that day, prompting thousands of delays and cancellations throughout the day. 

Spatial Front, based near Washington, works on computer systems at multiple US government agencies, according to its website. The company did not respond to emails seeking comment and attempts to reach it by phone were unsuccessful. 

Early last week, its website touted work on FAA contracts, saying it had more than 50 employees working on more than 90 “mission critical” systems, including the one that failed, known as Notice to Air Mission or Notam. 

In recent days, that information was removed from the company’s website. 

The FAA’s update to Congress was earlier reported by the Wall Street Journal.