Metro opens on time despite Microsoft outage | Live updates

WASHINGTON — Microsoft users worldwide, including banks and airlines, reported widespread outages on Friday, hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.

Outages have been reported at these companies, according to Downdetector:

The exact cause of the outage is still under investigation. By 6:30 a.m. ET, Microsoft said in an update that the "underlying cause of the issue has been fixed and several Microsoft 365 apps and services have been restored to full functionality."

The full statement is below:

Current status: The underlying cause of the issue has been fixed and several Microsoft 365 apps and services have been restored to full functionality. Residual impact is still affecting some Microsoft 365 apps and services, and Microsoft 365 engineering are continuing to conduct additional mitigation actions to provide relief. We're continuing to observe an increase in functionality and availability for the remaining impacted scenarios and we're monitoring this closely to ensure we're progressing towards full recovery. Microsoft is continuing to treat this event with the highest possible priority.

Scope of impact: This issue may be impacting any user attempting to use various Microsoft 365 apps and services.

Start time: Thursday, July 18, 2024, at 9:56 PM UTC

Preliminary root cause: A configuration change in a portion of our Azure backend workloads, caused interruption between storage and compute resources which resulted in connectivity failures that affected downstream Microsoft 365 services dependent on these connections.

Here is what services are impacted in the D.C. region. 

Metro

Commuters were told to anticipate delays Friday morning. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) said in an X post around 5 a.m. that its website and some internal systems were down, which could impact rail and bus services. 

But by 5:45 a.m. WMATA gave the all clear. 

"All Metrorail stations opened on time & service is running as scheduled," the agency posted. "Bus is operating as scheduled." 

The MetroAccess call center was also down, but Metro Transit Police were reachable by phone or text. 

Maryland Transit Authority

MTA reports customer service is down, but bus and train schedules have not been impacted. 

Emergency Services

Police departments across the region are reporting differing levels of impact by the outage. 

DC Police told WUSA9 that they have been impacted by the outage, but would not offer further details. A spokesperson said they have found a way to operate normally, but could not say whether 911 services were affected. 

Fairfax County Police Department said they have not been impacted by the outage.

Montgomery County authorities say 911 operations have not been impacted.

Arlington 911 is not reporting any issues.

We are working to contact other local agencies and will update this list as we learn more. 

Hospitals

UMD Capitol Region Medical Center in Prince George's County told WUSA9 that they have been impacted by the system outage, but would not go into further detail.

We have reached out to Inova and Medstar hospitals to see if they are dealing with any issues and have not yet heard back. As we learn more, we will update this story.

Airports

United Airlines, American Airlines and other flight service providers have said they have issued a ground stop for all flights as they deal with the Microsoft outage. It is not clear how long the stoppage will last. Reagan National Airport is reporting few delays early Friday, but that could change. 

"We’re aware of a technology issue with a vendor that is impacting multiple carriers. American is working with the vendor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience," American Airlines said in a statement on social media.

United also chose to "hold all aircraft at their departure airports" due to a "third party software outage impacting computer systems." 

"All Delta flights are paused as we work through a vendor technology issue," the airline wrote in a statement to WUSA. "Any customers whose flights are impacted will be notified by Delta via the Fly Delta app and text message."

Amtrak

A spokesperson for Amtrak told WUSA9 they don't know of any outages impacting local trips. 

DC Water

DC Water says they are not experiencing any issues as a result of the outage.

This story is developing and we are working to gather more information. Check back regularly for more updates as we get them.