US aviation regulators issued an extremely rare ground stop of all flights across the country Friday after a major communications outage which the Department of Homeland Security said did not appear to be the result of any ‘nefarious attack.’
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) said at 3.54pm ET that the reason for the immediate halting of US flights was: ‘Due to extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons.’
The FAA said: ‘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.’
While preliminary reports suggest the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, FBI personnel across the country are monitoring the situation, a law enforcement source told CNN.
One source told CBS News the issue deals with radio frequencies and how pilots communicate.
The halt triggered immediate chaos and confusion for travelers, with departure boards at many airports showing flights were operating normally, even as customers were unable to board planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration ‘issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,’ the agency said. ‘FAA technicians are investigating the issue.’
In a subsequent message on X, the agency described the problem as ‘a temporary telecommunications outage’ and said it was acting ‘out of an abundance of caution.’
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a threat to the United States and ‘this isn’t another 9/11.’
DHS Secretary Mullin says ‘no indication as of yet’ that there was an attack against US
“There was no indication as of yet this was a nefarious attack against us,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.
All flights in the air are accounted for, he said during a news conference, adding that the public has no reason to be afraid.
The FAA’s ground stop order runs through at least 11 p.m. ET Friday.
The federal agency said on social media that there has been a temporary telecommunications outage.
All flights have been accounted for and international flights will be “handled on a case by case basis,” the agency said.
Mullin says it’s ‘too early to tell’ how long ground stop will have effect
DHS Secretary Mullin was asked if the crisis could last ‘days’ or ‘weeks.’
‘Too early to tell,’ he said.
He added that the agencies are ‘able to communicate at certain levels but it’s overwhelmed’ and praised Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
College football schedule thrown into chaos as FAA’s rare nationwide ground stop leaves teams stranded across America
This weekend’s college football slate has been thrown into chaos after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prevented takeoffs at all airports across the country.
According to reports from The Athletic and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, 15 FBS football programs have been affected by this issue and have yet to take off for their away games.
This includes four teams in the top-25: No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee, and No. 19 Mississippi.
Other Power Four schools affected include Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Kansas State, Purdue, Washington and Minnesota. Non-Power Four schools impacted include Tulane, Oregon State, Wyoming and North Texas.
United and American Airlines warn passengers about the pause
Both airlines said in statements on X that flights already in the air will continue.
United Airlines said while domestic flights will not depart, “international departures are being managed on a case-by-case basis by the FAA.”
American Airlines said it expects disruptions for the rest of the day.
“It will be all hands on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this nationwide ground stop,” the airline said.
Passengers wait inside airport terminals across the nation
Outage comes the same week FAA rolled out AI air traffic tool
Friday’s FAA order came a day after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally asked Congress for $30.1 billion in funds to upgrade and modernize the US Air Traffic Control System.
“This investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace — delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure,” Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
Cause of outage is unknown
Mullin said it’s not yet known what caused the communications outages, but “we’re gonna find out what happened.”
He added that he’s not going to make assumptions and encouraged others to do the same.
Asked if there may be a connection to Thursday’s Microsoft outage, Mullin said officials are not ruling anything out.
Officials are dealing with midair flights on a case by case basis and working to help them land safely, he added.
An airport board displays delayed and cancelled flights after FAA groundstop was issued
Mullin says grounding all flights isn’t the same as Sept. 11
“There is no indication — and we had no reason to believe that — as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States,” Mullin said.
“This was a telecommunication outage,” Mullin told reporters outside the White House.
He said details were still emerging, but that the president had been briefed.
Mullin said the immediate priority was ensuring that planes still in the air would be landing safely, but that there was no clear information on how long the stoppage might last.
He also downplayed comparisons to the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001, saying, “This isn’t the same comparison to 9/11. That’s a road I won’t go down.”
FAA orders rare nationwide ground stop at all US airports due to ‘extraordinary circumstances’… while White House says ‘we’re not ruling out anything’
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted all flights throughout the US due to a major communications issue that has grounded flyers indefinitely.
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) said at 3.54pm ET that the reason for the immediate halting of US flights was: ‘Due to extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons.’
Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were delayed or cancelled due to the nationwide ground stop.
While preliminary reports suggest the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, FBI personnel across the country are monitoring the situation, a law enforcement source told CNN.
