FAA orders nationwide ground stop for US flights

Nationwide flight halt begins Friday

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports. This action followed a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers across the nation. FAA technicians are currently investigating the specific nature of this technical failure. Planes already in the air were allowed to land while departures remained suspended.

Outage affects control centers nationwide

The disruption involved all 22 regional air traffic control centres that direct planes between airports nationwide. Flight tracking data showed nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled as of Friday afternoon. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated there was no indication of a nefarious attack at the time. The event marks the second major nationwide ground stop since the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Officials rule out cyber threat

Markwayne Mullin stated to journalists that they have no cause to believe a cyberattack or another national security threat exists at this time. According to him, the telecommunications outage remains without a confirmed cause at this time. Later briefings suggested older technology became overwhelmed after new tools were introduced to the system. Friday evening at 8.15pm ET, the FAA ended the ground stop once they fixed the problem.

System strain and funding gaps

The disruption highlights ongoing strain on the US air traffic control system beset by equipment failures and controller shortages. Congress approved $12.5 billion for an overhaul last year, yet officials asked lawmakers for another $30.1 billion. Experts stated that airlines might require several days to rebuild their timetables following the most extended stoppage of operations since 2001.