All US flights grounded after communications system failure
US authorities have suspended all flights nationwide due to a communications outage affecting air traffic control. Investigations are ongoing; no cyberattack is suspected.
Key Takeaways
AIUS Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced early Saturday that all flights at airports across the United States have been halted due to a communications issue, stating that the failure has impacted all air traffic control centers nationwide.
Duffy said Federal Aviation Administration technicians are investigating the problem and pledged to provide updates as soon as they are available. The FAA announced in a statement that all flights in the United States have been suspended until further notice, citing exceptional circumstances and safety concerns.
The FAA confirmed that air traffic will remain suspended until further notice, and that international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis. The decision followed the detection of issues in air traffic control communications, which initially led to a suspension of flights in Chicago before being expanded nationwide.
Investigations are ongoing to determine the cause of the communications system failure, with officials awaiting further clarification on the extent of the disruption and when flights might resume. CNN quoted law enforcement sources as saying that early reports do not indicate a cyberattack as the cause of the outage.
The last nationwide grounding of flights in the United States occurred in January 2023 due to a NOTAM system failure, with a similar suspension previously following the September 11, 2001 attacks.