FAA issues nationwide groundstop, cites communication issue
Flights in the United States were grounded late Friday afternoon by the Federal Aviation Administration, just the second time since 9/11.
The nationwide groundstop until further notice is due to a communication issue, 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.
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.
The FAA, in a statement, said in progress international flights would be handled on a case by case basis.
“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 groundstop was issued, around 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. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Duffy said.
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 as threat to the United States,” Mullin told reporters at the White House.
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