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A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

cnn.com

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Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#11

I wonder if the corruption could have been caused by a cosmic ray bit flip. It would be funny to think that one single tiny subatomic particle knocked down our entire flight system.

Cosmic rays are a cop out but a good plot device. They're so rare, but one could write a bit flip into a script for a novel or a tv show as the solution to any computer mystery.

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#12

I wonder if the corruption could have been caused by a cosmic ray bit flip. It would be funny to think that one single tiny subatomic particle knocked down our entire flight system.

My guess is some input system was updated and now allows Unicode, but the backend systems do not.

Somebody inadvertently put a poop emoji in a text field.

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#14
post #10

Quote from FAA: "Our preliminary work has traced the outage to a damaged database file." UK news source The Independent is reporting that Nav Canada's NOTAM system also suffered an issue.[1] Speculation: corrupting input, either international or North American? E.G. UTF-8, SQL escape, CSV quoting. edit: Better reporting of Canada's issue from Canada's CBC (and frankly, better reporting about the US, too). [2] "In Can…

> traced the outage to a damaged database file

Lil' Bobby Tables strikes again!

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#15

I wonder if the corruption could have been caused by a cosmic ray bit flip. It would be funny to think that one single tiny subatomic particle knocked down our entire flight system.

My guess is some input system was updated and now allows Unicode, but the backend systems do not. Somebody inadvertently put a poop emoji in a text field.

Someone thought registering Mount Poop as a NOTAM and filling all the fields with poop emoji's was a good idea.

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#16
post #9

On a positive note, you could have been on Amtrak: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/us/amtrak-delayed-va-fl.h...

I will always elect to be stuck on an Amtrak than stuck on a plane or in an airport.

I'll take a book to the observation car and read next to the Mennonites doing their knitting and love every minute of it, no worries from me.

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#18
post #16
post #9

On a positive note, you could have been on Amtrak: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/us/amtrak-delayed-va-fl.h...

I will always elect to be stuck on an Amtrak than stuck on a plane or in an airport. I'll take a book to the observation car and read next to the Mennonites doing their knitting and love every minute of it, no worries from me.

What is stopping you from doing that in an airport?

Re: A corrupt file led to the FAA ground stoppage – also found in backup system

#20
post #18
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I will always elect to be stuck on an Amtrak than stuck on a plane or in an airport. I'll take a book to the observation car and read next to the Mennonites doing their knitting and love every minute of it, no worries from me.

What is stopping you from doing that in an airport?

I suppose nothing, I'll just be miserable while I'm doing it because I hate airports.

A personal preference.

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