US grounds all departing flights due to communication outage
Nearly 7,000 flights were disrupted after a communication issue impacted all Air Route Traffic Control Centres across the country on Friday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all departing flights across the United States on Friday following a communication outage at air traffic control centres, according to Moneycontrol.
Aviation tracker FlightAware reported that the ground stop disrupted nearly 7,000 flights. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated on X that the issue impacted all Air Route Traffic Control Centres.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Director Markwayne Mullin said preliminary findings point to a telecommunications failure. He told reporters there is no indication yet of a nefarious attack or deliberate interference.
This nationwide grounding is only the third time all departing US flights have been halted. Previous instances occurred on September 11, 2001, and in January 2023 following a pilot notification system malfunction.
The FAA employs more than 14,000 air traffic controllers who manage over 44,000 daily departing flights. The agency is currently modernising its air traffic management infrastructure, including the recent launch of digital air traffic control towers in Alaska and Florida.
