US FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop At All Airports After Telecom Outage; 7,000 Flights Hit

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on Friday ordered a nationwide ground stop across all American airports following a telecommunications outage that disrupted air traffic control operations across the country.

The disruption affected thousands of flights, with approximately 7,000 services either delayed or cancelled, according to flight-tracking platform FlightAware. US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy confirmed the development in a post on X, saying a communication failure had affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.

FAA technicians were investigating the issue, he added. "The FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue.

We will provide immediate updates as we have them," Duffy stated. The FAA said the disruption was caused by a temporary telecommunications outage and that flights had been halted as a precaution. "There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted.

Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis," the agency said on X. The communication failure reportedly affected all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the United States, which guide aircraft within their respective regions, particularly those approaching airports.

According to FlightAware, around 7,000 flights were either delayed or cancelled following the FAA's ground stop order. Flight-tracking website Flightradar24 reported that approximately 4,042 flights were airborne and heading towards US airports when the order was issued.

The FAA said every flight had been accounted for, while international services would be handled on a case-by-case basis. US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the nationwide aviation disruption had been triggered by a threat to the country.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House, Mullin assured the public that all flights had been accounted for and passengers were safe. However, he cautioned that restoring normal operations could take time. "Everybody's safe.

The flights are accounted for," he said, adding, "This is not another 9/11." He further stated, "It's going to take some time." Mullin said authorities had not ruled out any possible explanation for the telecommunications outage, including a potential connection with the planned rollout of a new artificial intelligence tool designed to assist air traffic controllers.

When asked whether the AI tool could have contributed to the disruption, he said, "You just can't rule out anything at this point. We are going through that process." The Homeland Security Secretary also sought to reassure people with family members travelling by air.

"Everybody is safe. There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they're flying." He reiterated that the ground stop was a precautionary measure following the telecommunications failure and that there was no indication of a deliberate attack so far.