️🇺🇸 - NEW: The US Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether a new $875 million air traffic control system rolled out across the country is responsible for the communications glitches that caused a massive ground shutdown, according to reports cited by Mediaite, Dissenter and Yahoo News.
️ The system, known as SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Tracks and Trajectories), was developed by Boston-based Air Space Intelligence under a 12-year, $875 million contract. Transport Minister Sean Duffy announced the expansion of the tool - which uses artificial intelligence to predict weather disruptions and reroute flights - just days before the shutdown.
Friday's nationwide ground shutdown was attributed by the FAA to a "communications problem affecting all air traffic control centers," grounding more than 6,500 flights. While the FAA insists that SMART is only an advisory tool and does not control safety systems, aviation analysts have expressed alarm about the timing.
️ "It's just too much of a coincidence that they announced they were going to start doing this," said Mary Schiavo, a CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general of the US Department of Transportation. "One of the goals of the SMART system was to manage the traffic on the road. And so if they put in new software now... And now we have a communication break."
️ The incident has intensified scrutiny of the FAA's aging infrastructure, which experts warn of struggles to integrate modern artificial intelligence systems with older technology, raising questions about whether the push for automation outweighs the safety of the national airspace.