The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday evening after a communications outage disrupted air traffic control systems across the United States, allowing departures to resume after hours of disruption.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. Eastern on November 13, according to NBC News. Officials cautioned that lifting the restriction would not immediately restore normal airline operations.
Communications failure halted departures
The FAA ordered departing aircraft to remain on the ground after a communication issue affected its Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Its initial notice cited extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns, while inbound international flights were to be handled individually.
The BBC’s initial live coverage reported confirmations of the ground stop from major airports. A subsequent BBC report said the nationwide restriction lasted more than four hours.
The order restricted takeoffs rather than requiring aircraft already airborne to stop flying. Flights in the air continued to be managed for landing.
Officials point to overloaded systems
Duffy attributed the outage to data overloading switches and routers in an aging air traffic control communications system. He said the failure affected communications and radar, according to the BBC.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had seen no evidence of a cyberattack. In a Department of Homeland Security account of the White House briefing, Mullin described a temporary telecommunications outage and said passengers were safe.
Mullin and Duffy urged Congress to support modernization of the air traffic control network. Their explanation reflected officials’ initial assessment; it was not a completed technical investigation into the failure.
Airlines begin a slower recovery
Airlines began restarting operations after the restriction was lifted. United Airlines said it was resuming operations, including some planned Friday-night flights, WCVB reported.
Permission to depart did not mean every scheduled flight would operate. Officials warned that the wider airline system would need time to recover, leaving travelers facing cancellations and delays even after the national restriction ended.
