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A Sept. 23 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has found that immediate actions are “urgently” needed to modernize the Federal Aviation Administration’s aging air traffic control infrastructure, of which 76% or 105 of 138 systems were found to be considered either “unsustainable” or “potentially unsustainable” by a 2023 agency risk assessment.
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About half of these 105 systems were deemed to have “critical operational impacts on the safety and efficiency of the national airspace,” and all lacked legacy support, spare parts and institutional maintenance knowledge needed to maintain them, according to the report. The government watchdog also found significant issues with oversight, noting that the agency’s acquisition oversight council failed to monitor “high risks” within the system, and failed to review some documentation associated with approving some investments.