US Suspends All Domestic Flights Due to “Extraordinary Circumstances”
A nationwide suspension of flight departures was ordered this Friday, Nov. 13, by the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), after detecting communication problems that affected air traffic control centers. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained on X that the emergency was related to a communication problem affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. He […]
On Friday, November 13, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced a complete suspension of all domestic flight departures across the country, citing "extraordinary circumstances." The decision came after the agency detected communication issues that were disrupting air traffic control centers nationwide. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the emergency was specifically related to these communication problems affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
The FAA is working diligently to identify the source of the failure, with technicians scrambling to resolve the issue. This marks the second significant shutdown of this nature since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Just prior to the announcement, the FAA had already halted air traffic in Chicago due to similar communication problems with local air traffic control.
The agency emphasized that all departing flights must remain grounded until further notice, while international arriving flights would be handled individually on a case-by-case basis. The FAA has been actively working to update and modernize the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers, having recently allocated $12.5 billion for this purpose. This effort includes replacing thousands of miles of old copper cables with fiber-optic lines and gradually updating obsolete radio systems at airports across the nation.
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