FAA grounds all US flights in second nationwide stop since 9/11

The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights across the United States Friday afternoon, the second nationwide ground stop since the September 11 attacks, the Associated Press reported.

Officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” tied to communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.

By 5:50 pm Eastern, at least 600 flights had been diverted, the AP reported, citing aviation firms. Of these, 496 returned to their original airports and 104 were sent elsewhere. Chicago O’Hare, Denver, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington’s Reagan National were among the airports receiving diverted planes.

More cancellations expected

About 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to depart after 4 pm Eastern, so more cancellations and diversions were likely. A few international flights were scheduled to depart from hubs on both coasts Friday evening. There was no timeline for resuming normal operations.

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The last nationwide ground stop came in January 2023, when a key FAA computer system failed. Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot, said Friday’s order differed from the one after the 2001 attacks. Planes were not told to land immediately, and pilots were probably still able to speak to controllers at airports.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA was investigating a communication issue affecting the 22 regional centres that guide planes between airports. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of a “nefarious attack,” calling it a telecommunications outage “as of right now.” He urged the public not to worry about loved ones in the air.

Mullin said investigators would examine whether the outage was linked to the FAA’s nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system for spotting problems and rerouting planes. That system runs from a single location near Washington and only sends recommendations to the control centres.

Stranded travellers say no info was

At O’Hare, passengers learned of the stop from departure screens. Amber McQuilkin, 27, a Seattle software engineer, feared missing a trip to New York for the League of Legends world finals, where her friends had already arrived. “There’s not really any information being passed to me,” she said.

Austin Curtis and his wife, travelling from South Bend, Indiana, to a baby shower in Denver, were removed from their plane after boarding. They were weighing a hotel and might spend the weekend in Chicago. “We might just make the most of it,” Curtis said.

(With Agency inputs)