UPDATED: Networks scrambled find the reasons behind on a highly unusual nationwide ground stop ordered by the FAA on Friday due to “extraordinary circumstances” and “reasons of safety.”
Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said that the order followed “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue.”
The FAA ordered all departing traffic stopped “until further notice” and inbound international flights would be managed “on a case by case basis.”
Fox News reported on the ground stop, followed by CNN and MS NOW. Broadcast networks also broke into regular programming with special reports. Fox News also preempted the top rated The Five to report on the breaking news.
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“This is going to be chaos for hours to come,” said CNN’s Richard Quest. The network’s Brian Stelter was at Newark International Airport and reported on security lines and uncertainty over flight schedules. The network also cited law enforcement sources saying that preliminary reports indicated that the ground stop was not a cyber attack.
NBC News reported that some 11,000 flights had been scheduled after 4 p.m. on Friday.
“Everybody is safe,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House.
He described it as a “telecommunications outage” and said that he saw “no reason” to connect it to the Microsoft outage on Thursday that made Outlook inoperable.
“This is unprecedented when you see something like this,” he said, adding that it would “take some time” to get everything up and running again.
Asked if the outage could be related to artificial intelligence, he corrected the reporter to note that “we call it SI. Remember SI.” Then Mullin said that “you just can’t rule out anything at this point.”
There was a ground stop in 2023 that lasted for about an hour and a half, reportedly due to a breakdown in a pilot alert system. The FAA also issued a ground stop following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.
Mullin reiterated that the outage was telecommunications related and “this isn’t another 9/11.” He said that, while flights were grounded, planes were still landing.
Airlines started offering rebooking options. A message from United Airlines read, “Due to a nationwide ground stop by the FAA, we’re holding planes from taking off at this time. Planes already in flight will continue. We’ll update you as we learn more. You can check your flight status or rebook here or on the United app.”