The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare nationwide ground stop for all departing flights Friday afternoon, citing a massive communication failure that has paralyzed air travel across the United States.
The agency described the situation as resulting from “extraordinary circumstances” and noted the order was issued for reasons of safety. The disruption stems from a communication issue impacting all 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which are responsible for managing flights traveling at altitudes above 18,000 feet.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that FAA technicians are currently investigating the root cause of the outage. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin addressed the public Friday evening, stating there is currently no evidence to suggests the outage was the result of a “nefarious attack.”
Mullin characterized the event as a telecommunications outage and emphasized that passengers currently in the air remain safe. “This isn’t another 9/11. I cannot repeat that enough,” Mullin told reporters during a briefing. He added that while the government is not ruling anything out during the early stages of the investigation, the primary focus remains on restoring the telecommunications infrastructure.
The impact on ground operations has been immediate and severe. Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., has already reached maximum capacity, while Chicago O’Hare International Airport is nearing its limit. With nowhere to park arriving aircraft, officials warned that some inbound flights may be forced to divert to alternative locations.
The FAA noted that while domestic departures are halted, inbound international flights are being managed on a case-by-case basis. Aviation experts said pilots already in flight are trained for these scenarios and will continue to follow their pre-filed flight plans until they can safely establish a pathway for landing.
This marks only the second time since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, that the FAA has grounded all domestic air traffic. A similar but less extensive nationwide stop occurred in 2023 following a failure of the agency’s NOTAM system, which provides essential pre-departure information to pilots.
President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation as federal agencies work to resolve the technical failure. Travelers are encouraged to check their flight status directly with airlines, as significant delays and cancellations are expected to ripple through the global aviation network for the remainder of the day.
