US Flights Grounded Nationwide as Air Traffic Comms Fail
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights across the United States after a communications failure hit its air traffic control network.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted all flights across the United States after a communications failure hit its air traffic control network. The agency said the order came "under extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."
The FAA's advisory said traffic "should remain ground stopped until further notice." International flights are being handled case by case.
What officials say caused it
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the order followed "a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." These are the facilities that guide planes flying across the country. FAA technicians were investigating, he said.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said early checks pointed away from an attack. "There's no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against it. It's just a telecommunications outage as of right now," he told reporters.
Law enforcement sources said that preliminary reports indicate it was not a cyberattack. President Donald Trump has been briefed.
The FAA later described the cause as a "temporary telecommunications outage." It said all flights were halted "out of an abundance of caution," and that all aircraft in the air had been accounted for.
How many flights are hit
Flight tracker FlightAware counted nearly 7,000 US flights delayed or canceled. Other tallies went higher, with more than 7,800 delayed and 350 canceled.
About 3,100 flights were heading to US destinations when the ground stop was announced, according to Flightradar24.
Nationwide ground stops are rare. This is the third in US history. The first followed the September 11, 2001, attacks, and the second came in January 2023, when a pilot notification system failed.
Advice for travelers
Australia's Smartraveller website told Australians in the US, or planning to travel there, to monitor media and contact their airline to reschedule flights.
Duffy said the FAA would "provide immediate updates as we have them."
