FAA halts all US domestic flights in rare nationwide ground stop
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday, citing a communication problem that affected all air route traffic control centers, the second such grounding in US history. Officials said preliminary reports do not point to a cyberattack.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop for all US flights on Friday, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and safety concerns. It is only the second time in the nation's history that air traffic has been halted across the entire country, and the first since the attacks of September 11, 2001, when airspace was closed in the wake of the hijackings.
The agency said the stop was triggered by a communication issue affecting all air route traffic control centers. FAA technicians are investigating the problem, and the full cause has not yet been confirmed. Departures were paused for multiple hours, while planes already in the air were permitted to land safely. Major hubs including Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson and New York's JFK airport were among the facilities affected, meaning travelers at some of the busiest airports in the country faced delays and uncertainty during the stoppage.
Officials said preliminary reports indicate the disruption was not a cyberattack, and no national security connection has been identified. Even so, the timing has drawn attention. Reports linked the outage to the recent rollout of a new artificial intelligence tool at the agency. The air traffic controllers' union reportedly was not consulted on the new technology and did not have the opportunity to test it before it was put into use. Those reports have not been confirmed by the agency.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued a statement promising updates as the investigation proceeds. Key lawmakers reportedly did not have answers about the stop when they sought explanations, a gap that left Congress and the public relying on limited official information. Duffy also faced sharp criticism on social media from commentators who questioned how a sweeping halt of this scale could occur without a clear account of what went wrong.
The grounding was notable not only for its reach but for its rarity. Nationwide halts of domestic air traffic are almost unheard of, and the one in 2001 was tied to a crisis of a different order. By contrast, this stoppage was attributed to a technical fault rather than an external attack, which is why the questions about the new software and the staff who would use it have carried so much weight in the hours that followed.
No restart timeline has been announced, and officials have not said when normal operations will fully resume. Because the grounding touched every major air route in the country, airlines and passengers face the prospect of rebuilt schedules and continued disruption. Further information from the FAA and the Department of Transportation is expected as the investigation continues.
Source: rawstory.com
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