Washington: The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon for just the second time since the September 11 attacks, with officials citing “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
The nation’s top homeland security official attributed the problem to a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication yet of a nefarious act. But the consequences were profound, disrupting potentially thousands of planned flights through at least late Friday night and upending travel plans for passengers who were heading home, expected as wedding guests or had other weekend plans.
“It’s frustrating. This certainly sounds like it’s going to be more than the usual run-of-the-mill delay. I look forward to finding out why,” said Jeff Dubner, a Washington, DC, attorney, whose Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, was already half an hour late and taxiing to the runway when the plane came to a halt.
The nationwide ground stop was the first since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, and the second since the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Friday’s restrictions were imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” according to an FAA notice. The agency was investigating a communication issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centres that direct planes en route between airports nationwide, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
A few international flights were taking off Friday evening from international aviation hubs on the East and West coasts.
Top official says no sign yet of nefarious act
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that there was no indication yet that “this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications outage as of right now.”
“Everybody’s safe. There’s no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying,” Mullin said.
At least 600 flights have been diverted so far as a result of the FAA’s order to ground all air traffic nationwide.
As of 5:50 pm Eastern, 496 flights were diverted to the airport from where they originally took off, while 104 were sent to a different airport, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
Among the airports where many of the flights ended up being diverted are Chicago O’Hare International Airport, Denver International Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
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Some 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to take off from airports in the US after 4 p.m. Eastern, raising the likelihood of more cancellations and flight diversions.
At Chicago O’Hare Airport on Friday afternoon, travellers passing through security learned about the ground stop when they gazed up at screens that showed flight delays across the board.
Some called friends or family members, debating whether to stay the night in Chicago or find another way to their destinations.
Amber McQuilkin, 27, sat on a bench, disappointed that she might miss a trip with friends to New York for the League of Legends world finals. Her friends, she said, had already arrived there.
“There’s not really any information being passed to me,” said the Seattle software engineer, who took a week of vacation for the trip. “I contemplated just abandoning the flight and driving, but then the more I thought about it, the more I’m like, that would be miserable.”
Austin Curtis and his wife were rethinking their trip from South Bend, Indiana, to a friend’s baby shower in Denver after getting delayed during a layover in Chicago.
They had boarded a flight to Denver from O’Hare International Airport when they were told to get off the plane.
“We did see them taking luggage off our plane and others, so we’re assuming it’s going to be a pretty substantial delay,” Curtis said.
They were unsure whether to get a hotel room or keep waiting out the delay at the airport. With care already in place for their two young children at home, they might stay the weekend in Chicago, he said.
“We might just make the most of it,” Curtis said.
Despite the nationwide FAA ground stop, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Texas on Friday afternoon on its latest test flight.
The government has been working to overhaul outdated technology
There is no timeline for restarting flights. Mullin said investigators will look at whether there is any link to the FAA’s nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system to help identify problems and reroute planes.
But that system operates out of one location near Washington, DC, and just sends recommendations to the air traffic control centres.
The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved USD 12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fibre optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.
But much work remains. Duffy has said that another USD 30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.
The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may 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, who is a former United Airlines pilot. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.”
Friday’s ground stop was different from the one after September 11 because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said.
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