By Mark Gray
8:59am PST, Jan 12, 2023
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Domestic air traffic in the United States was grounded for several hours on Wednesday, Jan. 11, due to failure of the FAA's Notice to Air Missions system. According to Fox News, the NOTA alerts pilots and other personnel about airborne issues and other delays at airports across the country. Without it, pilots are essentially flying blind. The ground stop was eventually lifted after about 90 minutes and planes were allowed to fly, but not before celebrities — many of whom lean right — sounded off on Twitter about the air travel debacle. Antonio Sabato Jr., for instance, felt something nefarious was at play. "They will even shut down the airlines, believe it it's real the matrix system see it for what it is, and live happily ever after knowing the truth," he tweeted. "Today the airlines tomorrow who knows, watch your back and each other."
Meanwhile, many conservatives focused their blame on United States Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.
Click through to see how people are reacting to the unprecedented air travel grounding…
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"I have been in touch with FAA this morning about an outage affecting a key system for providing safety information to pilots. FAA is working to resolve this issue swiftly and safely so that air traffic can resume normal operations, and will continue to provide updates. FAA has determined that the safety system affected by the overnight outage is fully restored, and the nationwide ground stop will be lifted effective immediately. I have directed an after-action process to determine root causes and recommend next steps," Pete Buttigieg tweeted. He later added the ground stop was done out of an "abundance of caution… We're always going to err on the on side of safety."
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"Is the Secretary of Transportation out on maternity leave again as all US Flights are grounded? We are becoming a third world country, but on the bright side he figured out that our highway system is… You guessed it: Racist!!! Great work Petie! #FAA #FAAOutage," Donald Trump Jr. tweeted. He added, "Whether a cyber attack or a system issues is the cause of the FAA shutdown, we can all rest assured that when he finishes chest feeding, Mayor Pete is on it!"
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"Even more concerning than the FAA delaying every flight in America this morning, is our government's official statement saying they are not sure whether the system was hacked or not! Not sure?," Stevie Van Zandt tweeted. "Excuse me, but they should know whether they've been hacked or not in five f****** minutes!"
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"Soooo anybody wanna tell me why all the planes in ATL airport just got grounded and they saying the FAA shut down ALL flights nationally cuz uhmmmm yeah" –Remy Ma
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"All domestic flights were grounded this morning. Thousands of holiday flights were canceled last month. Broken supply chains caused shortages last year. How does Pete Buttigieg still have a job?" –Kimberly Guilfoyle
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"Also indefinitely grounded: @PeteButtigieg presidential ambition." –Kellyanne Conway
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"Well, there's now some @AmericanAir flights boarding at MIA. Not mine. But hope springs eternal. Pro Tip (I travel weekly): if you can avoid flying today, do. With these many delays and cancellations, getting things back in normal order is always messy & takes time." –Ana Navarro-Cardenas
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"The FAA shut down all air traffic—a move we haven't seen since 9/11. Mayor @PeteButtigieg just HAMMERED @SouthwestAir for software issues and now THIS?" –Rudy Giuliani
