All departing US flights grounded due to communication problem
The rare nationwide ground stop order was issued due a communications problem affecting US air traffic control towers.
On Friday, November 13, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop for all departing flights in the United States, citing a communications problem affecting air traffic control towers. The move caused confusion for travelers and came a day after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy requested $30.1 billion in funds to upgrade the US Air Traffic Control System.
The FAA has previously issued similar orders due to communication issues, but systemwide groundings are uncommon. Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin stated there was no indication the country was under threat, but officials were investigating the issue and not ruling out a possible cyberattack. The situation could take several hours to resolve, as all flights have been accounted for and incoming international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
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