US briefly grounds all flights after ATC glitch causes longest shutdown since 9/11
US briefly grounds all flights after ATC glitch causes longest shutdown since 9/11
M.U.H
14/11/202636
The United States lifted a nationwide flight ground stop on Friday after an air traffic control communications failure disrupted operations, affecting over 11,000 flights and triggering travel chaos.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered the shutdown, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and safety concerns, while Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the disruption to new technology overwhelming an ageing ATC system and ruled out any immediate indication of a malicious attack.
"This isn't another 9/11," Mullin told reporters outside the White House, assuring the public that all aircraft in the air had been accounted for and there was no reason to fear for the safety of loved ones. He attributed the disruption to a telecommunications outage, adding that authorities were investigating its cause.
The FAA lifted the ground stop after more than four hours. It had initially ordered the shutdown at 3.54 pm Eastern Time (2.24 am IST on Saturday), citing "extraordinary circumstances" caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
The restrictions barred aircraft on the ground from taking off, while allowing those already airborne to continue to their destinations. Hundreds of flights were diverted, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at airports.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said aircraft departures could resume after lifting the restrictions, but warned that it would take time for flight operations to return to normal.
The shutdown was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a malfunction in the FAA's Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system disrupted domestic departures, and the longest since September 11, 2001, attacks.
AROUND 15,000 FLIGHTS DELAYED, CANCELLED
The disruption quickly spread across major US airports, with departure boards filling up with delays and cancellations. Around 15,000 flights were delayed or cancelled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
According to an Associated Press report, at least 827 flights were diverted, including 670 sent back to their original departure airports and 157 redirected elsewhere, aviation analytics company Cirium reported.
Washington Dulles, Los Angeles International, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky and Nashville airports were among those receiving diverted aircraft.
A CNN report also stated that several airports were nearing ground saturation, running out of gates and space to accommodate incoming aircraft.
The disruption also affected international travel, with airlines in Canada and Europe cancelling flights as they adjusted their schedules. International departures from the US were being handled on a case-by-case basis, Mullin said.
American Airlines and United Airlines said aircraft already airborne would continue to their destinations. American Airlines added that it was preparing to resume normal operations once the FAA lifted the restrictions.
Although the FAA has now allowed departures to resume, the backlog of delayed and diverted flights is expected to take time to clear.
AGEING ATC SYSTEM, OVERLOADED EQUIPMENT CAUSED OUTAGE
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the disruption was caused by ageing telecommunications infrastructure, with overloaded switches and routers triggering the failure.
Describing the US air traffic control system as "incredibly old", Duffy said it relied on an analogue system that was unable to handle the volume of data, resulting in the communications breakdown.
"Switches, routers actually got overloaded with data, and they went down," he said, calling the situation an emergency and urging Congress to provide funding for an overhaul.
Duffy clarified that the US had not lost all radar or telecommunications capabilities, but authorities imposed the nationwide ground stop as a precaution to ensure passenger safety.
"We didn't lose all radar, but that instability, because of an abundance of caution and making sure we keep American flyers safe, we did the ground stop," he said, adding that emergency medical flights and law enforcement aircraft were still allowed to operate.
At the time the ground stop was imposed, around 3,500 aircraft were in the sky. Duffy said fewer than 400 remained airborne when he last checked, warning that restoring normal air traffic would take time.
"It's going to be slow," he said, indicating that lifting the restrictions would not immediately resolve the backlog of disrupted flights.
Duffy also said the administration was seeking $50 billion from Congress to build an entirely new air traffic control system, replacing the existing analogue telecommunications infrastructure. He added that President Donald Trump had been urging lawmakers over the past year to fully fund the overhaul.
TRUMP RULES OUT CYBERATTACK, AI LINK
US President Donald Trump told Fox News that the disruption did not appear to have been caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence. Microsoft also said it had no indication that the ground stop was connected to any of its services.
However, investigators were examining whether the failure could be linked to the FAA's rollout of a new AI-powered system designed to identify problems and recommend alternative routes. Mullin said authorities were looking into all possible causes.
AGEING US AVIATION INFRA IN FOCUS
The nationwide shutdown has renewed questions about the reliability of the US air traffic control system, which has faced repeated communications failures, equipment problems and staffing shortages.
Much of the FAA's technology is decades old. Last week, the agency announced plans to phase out floppy disks used to provide weather and other critical information at more than 400 facilities by the end of 2028.
The government has been replacing ageing copper wires with fibre-optic lines and upgrading radio equipment. Congress approved $12.5 billion for the overhaul last year, but the White House and the Department of Transportation are seeking another $30.1 billion to complete the modernisation.
The latest outage follows a communications failure in September that disrupted hundreds of flights across the northeastern US.
The disruption comes amid heightened scrutiny of US aviation safety following several incidents, including the January 2025 mid-air collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport that killed 67 people.
