Washington, United States: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop on 14 November after a communications failure disrupted air traffic control operations across the United States, bringing departures to a halt and affecting thousands of flights.
The ground stop was issued at 20:54 UTC on 13 November, requiring all flights bound for US airports to remain on the ground. Aircraft already airborne were permitted to continue to their destinations, while inbound international flights were managed on a case-by-case basis.
According to Flightradar24, 4,042 flights were airborne and destined for US airports when the restriction was issued. As the ground stop continued, the number of aircraft in the air fell sharply. At 01:29 UTC on 14 November, only 336 flights were airborne and bound for US airports, compared with more than 3,600 normally operating at that time.
The FAA confirmed that the nationwide restriction followed communication issues affecting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers. In its initial statement, the agency said technicians were investigating the problem.
The ground stop was lifted at 01:15 UTC on 14 November (8:15 p.m. Eastern Time on 13 November), allowing flights to resume. However, Flightradar24 reported that air traffic was returning gradually and that normal operations would take many hours to recover.
Nearly 10,000 Flights Cancelled
In its final update on the incident at 04:30 UTC on 14 November, Flightradar24 reported that nearly 10,000 flights to and from US airports had been cancelled through Saturday. The tracking service also warned that the effects of Friday’s ground stop would continue to affect airline operations throughout the weekend.
Officials Cite Overloaded Communications Equipment
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy attributed the outage to switches and routers that became overloaded and shut down after beginning to provide inconsistent data.
The incident also prompted concerns over the reliability of the country’s air traffic control infrastructure. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found no indication that the outage was caused by a cyberattack or other deliberate threat.
The FAA’s investigation into the communications failure is expected to establish the precise cause of the disruption.
