This is a developing story and will be updated.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop of all departing flights on Friday “due to extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety” after the agency earlier reported serious air traffic control communications issues.
The announcement means flights in the air may land, but flights on the ground cannot take off.
Shortly before the announcement, the FAA halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control communications issues. The agency said, “All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice.”
Friday was the third nationwide ground stop of all departures since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communications issue is affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating.
This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned and the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours. Before that, the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
However, government officials are stressing this is a technical issue and is not terrorism-related.
“This is not another 9/11; this is a telecommunications outage,” said US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin in a hastily-called press conference. “Your loved ones are not in any danger.”
The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines, and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.
You May Also Be Interested In…
Northeast Flight Disruptions Hit as World Leaders Arrive
FAA Extends Chicago O’Hare Flight Limits Through 2027
