FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop, Halting U.S. Airport Departures Over Communications Issue

Nationwide ground stop

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday, halting departures at every U.S. airport until further notice due to "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was "due a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," and FAA technicians were investigating the issue. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that "It's just a telecommunications outage as of now," and he said there was no indication yet that the incident was a "nefarious attack."

No malicious attack indicated6 of 9 outlets reported it · not in Attasia and 2 more▾

The FAA said international flights would be handled case by case, while aircraft already in the air could land and planes on the ground could not take off. FlightAware reported that about 7,000 flights were delayed or canceled due to the stop, and Flightradar24 reported that 3,100 airborne aircraft were bound for U.S. airports earlier amid the halt.

+4Inbound flights case by case10 of 10 outlets reported it▾

Reporting for this sectionABC NewsAl Jazeera

Officials weigh cyber risk

Mullin told reporters, "This isn't another 9/11. I cannot repeat that enough," and he said officials were investigating the root of the communications problem.

Duffy wrote in an X statement that the stop was "due a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," and he added that "FAA technicians are investigating the issue."

ABC News reported that Mullin said the government would look into all possibilities behind the communications issue, and he said they were not ruling anything out when asked about a cyber attack.

Al Jazeera reported that Mullin said officials had not ruled out a link to a planned rollout of a new AI tool, and he said, "You just can't rule out anything at this point."

Al Jazeera also reported that the FBI does not believe a cyberattack or criminal activity caused the failure, citing an official familiar with the matter.

Reporting for this sectionABC NewsAl Jazeera

Air traffic system strain

The FAA said the nationwide pause in departures was due to disruptions in air-traffic-control communications frequencies and radar systems, and it said the order affected the 22 regional Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

+2Cause cited as comms issue8 of 8 outlets reported it▾

Alaska Public Media reported that there was no timeline for restarting flights, and it said Mullin said investigators would look at whether there was any link to the FAA's nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system.

The FAA and the White House asked lawmakers on Friday for an additional $30.1 billion to address other issues, after Congress approved $12.5 billion last year to update the agency's aging communications system.

Albuquerque International Sunport officials said airport staff prepared to distribute a shipment of bottled water to stranded passengers, and Jonathan Small said 10 planes were waiting at gates as of mid-afternoon.

Air Data News reported that the FAA ordered the ground stop at 20:54 UTC (3:54 p.m. Eastern Time) and said the agency had not identified its technical cause or announced a confirmed time for normal operations to resume.

Reporting for this sectionAlaska Public MediaAir Data News