![The FAA says recent IACRA website problem was related to a network issue. [Credit: Meg Godlewski]](https://flyingmag1.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/Tower-at-Tacoma-Narrows-scaled1-e1719409195518.jpg?width=1911&height=1271)
As of 6 a.m. Monday, normal operations resumed across the National Airspace System (NAS) per the order of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.
“[The] decision to rescind the order reflects the steady decline in staffing concerns across the NAS and allows us to return to normal operations,” said Bedford, alluding to the end of the government shutdown that lasted 43 days. “I am grateful for the hard work of the FAA safety and operations teams and for their focus on the safety of the traveling public.”
Most of the government shutdown impact was felt at the airline level, as air traffic controllers (ATCs) and TSA agents not getting paid during the congressional stalemate did not show up for work, causing extended waits for passenger screening, flight delays and cancellations.
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At the general aviation level, especially in the training environment, there was a reduction in the availability of ATCs to provide flight following for VFR traffic due to reduced staffing levels. There were also reduced services for skydiving operations, photo missions, and VFR practice approaches at airports with agency-owned-and-operated towers.
In addition, there were some reports of delays in aircraft registration, processing of medical certificates, and receiving information from the Flight Service District Office, as the latter was operating with minimum staffing and focused on safety-critical tasks.
Certification System Outage
Check rides still continued during the shutdown because DPEs are independent contractors. However, toward the end of the government closure, the Integrated Airman Certification and Rating Application (IACRA) website malfunctioned, and check ride applicants could not complete their 8710 forms on it.
This created some consternation among the CFIs who had never used a paper 8710 before and some DPEs who allegedly have not been trained in the use of the paper 8710.
CFIs who attempted to find information about the lack of IACRA got nowhere, because the combination of the weekend and the government shutdown meant no one was around to answer questions via email or telephone. IACRA was restored by midmorning the following Monday.
“IACRA was partially offline the first weekend of November due to a network error,” an FAA spokesperson. “The FAA corrected the network error that Monday morning.”
As far as a paper application being no longer suitable for airmen certification, the FAA responded to that assertion.
“Paper has always been the backup to IACRA,” the agency said. “An application that needs corrections typically does not delay certification. Most certifications result in a temporary airman certificate that is valid for 120 days, providing ample time to process the application.”
