The Federal Aviation Administration ended a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday evening, more than four hours after a technical failure disrupted air traffic control across the United States. The halt began after officials detected instability in radar and communication systems at high-altitude Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the issue started around 3:36 p.m. ET. At that time, approximately 3,500 aircraft were in the sky. The FAA grounded all departing flights at U.S. airports and began handling inbound international arrivals on a case-by-case basis. Officials cited extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns as the reason for the unprecedented move.
Rare Disruption Affects Thousands of Flights
This event marks only the third time in 25 years that the FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop. The previous instance occurred in January 2023 following a system outage that lasted roughly two hours. The 2001 stop was a response to the terrorist attacks on September 11.
By Friday night, the disruption had already caused significant chaos for travelers. Flight tracking data showed more than 5,700 cancellations across the country. Airlines began canceling flights for Saturday as well, with nearly 1,000 additional flights removed from schedules.
The FAA halted departures while technicians worked to identify the root cause of the communication breakdown. The agency stated that all departing flights would remain grounded until the issue was resolved. Inbound international flights were processed individually to manage the backlog of arriving aircraft.
Officials Rule Out Cyberattack
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin addressed the public during a briefing on Friday night. He stated there was no indication that the disruption was caused by a cyberattack. The failure appeared to be technical rather than malicious.
The FAA has not yet released a detailed explanation of what caused the communication failure. Technicians are currently investigating the specific systems that went offline. The agency has not provided a timeline for when normal operations would fully resume.
Disruptions are expected to continue into the weekend as airlines work through the backlog of canceled flights. Travelers are advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport. The FAA lifted the ground stop at approximately 8:15 p.m. ET, but residual delays remain likely.
Source: Skift
