US grounds flights nationwide over air traffic communication outage

Washington: The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded flights nationwide after communication problems at regional air traffic control centres, according to an official notice.

The notice stated that a nationwide ground stop was being imposed on Friday afternoon (local time) "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety".

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a post on X, confirmed that the issue was being examined by the aviation regulator. "FAA technicians are investigating the issue," he said.

US media outlets reported that the FAA had earlier issued an advisory citing "extraordinary circumstances" and "reasons of safety" as the basis for the nationwide ground stop, describing the decision as an unusual and rare measure.

The advisory instructed airlines and aircraft operators to keep departing flights on the ground until further notice. "All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice," it said, adding that "inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis".

The nationwide ground stop marked the first such action since January 2023, when a malfunction in a key FAA computer system disrupted flight operations across the country.

Before that, the last nationwide ground stop had been imposed following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication at that stage that the communication disruption was the result of a deliberate attack.

"This was a nefarious attack against us. It's just a telecommunications outage," he said, while indicating that officials had not found evidence of any malicious activity.

Several airlines issued statements on X, assuring passengers that flights which were already airborne would continue operating despite the ground stop.

United Airlines said that while its domestic flights would not be departing during the disruption, international departures would be handled separately under the FAA's directions.

"International departures are being managed on a case-by-case basis by the FAA," the airline said.

American Airlines, meanwhile, warned that passengers could face disruptions throughout the remainder of the day as a result of the nationwide restriction.

"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 in a statement.

According to the FAA notification, the ground stop order was scheduled to remain in effect until at least 11 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Friday.

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