FAA issues nationwide ground stop, cites communication issue

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – All flights in the United States were grounded late Friday afternoon by the Federal Aviation Administration, just the second time since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The nationwide ground stop until further notice is due to "extraordinary circumstances related to communications issue at multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. As of 5:05 p.m. Eastern, more than 9,000 flights were delayed within, into or outside the United States, according to FlightAware, a flight tracking website. 

Millions of travelers are stranded at airports. 

The FAA "issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all air route traffic control centers," Duffy wrote.

“Traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice,” the FAA said in an advisory. “International flights will be managed on a case by case basis.”

At the time the ground stop was issued, about 4 p.m., more than 4,000 flights were airborne destined for U.S. airports, according to FlightRadar24, an aviation tracking website. 

"FAA technicians are investigating the issue," Duffy said. "We will provide immediate updates as we have them."

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no reason to suspect a national security threat for the outage. 

"There is no indiciation that we've had, no reason to believe, that as of right now this was a threat to the United States," Mullin told reporters at the White House. 

On Jan. 11, 2023, a file corruption or deletion error disabled the NOTAM – Notice to Air Missions – pilot safety alert system. On Sept. 11, 2001, the FAA shut down all U.S. airspace following the terrorist attacks against America.