The Latest: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems

The Latest: FAA grounds all flights nationwide due to communications problems By The Associated Press The Associated Press FILE - A Federal Aviation Administration logo is displayed in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, March 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File) The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon due to communications problems at regional air traffic control centers, an FAA notice said. The ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” according to the notice. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communications issue was affecting the regional air traffic control centers that direct planes between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication yet that “this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications outage.” Here is the latest: Passenger shares video of midair announcement A Delta passenger flying from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale recorded video of the captain explaining the ground stop during a midair announcement. He tells passengers that other planes will be unable to depart, but they are still on track to land at their destination within the hour, according to footage shared with The Associated Press by passenger Andrew Gillfillan. A photo also taken by Gillfillan shows rows of passengers watching live broadcasts about the ground stop on their seatback televisions. Travelers wait at airports as flights are suspended Sean Carey was waiting for his flight at Chicago O’Hare Airport when his grandparents and other family members called and texted him from Las Vegas to let him know about the ground stop. He was planning to travel there for a family wedding. “I’m surprised the airport’s not in more disarray,” he said. If he can’t get on a flight for the wedding Saturday, he only hopes he gets a refund and plans to visit another time. “I hope everyone gets home safely and gets to where they need to go safely,” he said. DHS chief says system ‘overwhelmed’ at certain levels Mullin said communication systems had been affected, triggering the nationwide ground stop, but he provided few other details. He said officials continue to investigate the causes. They are able to communicate “at certain levels,” he said. “But it’s overwhelmed some of the systems we have.” Mullin said flights are continuing to land during the stoppage and that, for now, officials are working to “make sure” that “we get the flights down and then we get a normal operations back up.” Cause of outage is unknown Mullin said it’s not yet known what caused the communications outages, but “we’re gonna find out what happened.” He added that he’s not going to make assumptions and encouraged others to do the same. Asked if there may be a connection to Thursday’s Microsoft outage, Mullin said officials are not ruling anything out. Officials are dealing with midair flights on a case by case basis and working to help them land safely, he added. Homeland security secretary says grounding all flights isn’t the same as Sept. 11 “There is no indication — and we had no reason to believe that — as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States,” Mullin said. “This was a telecommunication outage,” Mullin told reporters outside the White House. He said details were still emerging, but that the president had been briefed. Mullin said the immediate priority was ensuring that planes still in the air would be landing safely, but that there was no clear information on how long the stoppage might last. He also downplayed comparisons to the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001, saying, “This isn’t the same comparison to 9/11. That’s a road I won’t go down.” FAA says flights halted ‘out of an abundance of caution’ The federal agency said on social media that there has been a temporary telecommunications outage. All flights have been accounted for and international flights will be “handled on a case by case basis,” the agency said. Homeland Security secretary says currently no indication of an attack “There was no indication as of yet this was a nefarious attack against us,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin. All flights in the air are accounted for, he said during a news conference, adding that the public has no reason to be afraid. The FAA’s ground stop order runs through at least 11 p.m. ET Friday. Passengers on boarded plane returned to gate Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Wichita to Chicago on Friday afternoon received text messages explaining the problem as “air traffic conditions in Chicago.” The plane sat on the runway for about an hour before the captain announced the air traffic problem seemed to be nationwide, and the plane would return to the gate. Passengers deboarded and the airline said no one would be rebooked for at least an hour. Aviation safety expert says issue appears similar to September regional outage Former United Airlines pilot and aviation expert Steve Arroyo said the problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, except this time on a nationwide scale. Arroyo said it could be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers. “If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” said Arroyo. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.” First nationwide ground stop since January 2023 A key FAA computer system malfunctioned, temporarily grounding all flights nationwide and touched off a cascading air traffic jam. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Flights halted at airports across US due to air traffic control communications problems, FAA says The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 , when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. ▶ Read more Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.