FAA Lifts Nationwide Ground Stop for All Aircraft [UPDATE]
Longtime Slashdot readers cold fjord and sinij share news that the FAA grounded flights nationwide after a communications failure disrupted air traffic control centers across the country. By Friday evening, the outage had resulted in nearly 5,000 flight cancellations and roughly 10,000 delays, with no timeline for restoring normal operations. Rumors are swirling that this could be related to the…
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted its nationwide ground stop for all aircraft after a communication failure disrupted air traffic control centers across the United States. The outage resulted in nearly 5,000 flight cancellations and approximately 10,000 delays, leaving no clear timeline for normal operations to resume. Rumors suggested the issue might be linked to the FAA's new SMART AI system or Microsoft's recent global outage, but both the agency and Microsoft denied any connection to their technology.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the ground stop just after 4:15 pm Eastern time, stating it was due to communication issues affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians were investigating the matter, and ASI, the company behind the SMART system, confirmed the issue was not related to their product. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin noted that they were looking into the possibility of the SMART system being involved.
Microsoft also stated they had no indication the ground stop was related to their services. The FAA explained the ground stop was due to extraordinary circumstances and safety considerations. At 1:33 UTC, Mullin and Duffy were briefing press members on the situation. At 1:46 UTC, the FAA confirmed that the nationwide ground stop had been lifted. Airlines warned that disruptions might persist into Saturday.
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Also reported by 2 other outlets
- FAA Orders Nationwide Ground Stop for All Aircraft news.slashdot.org
- FAA orders third nationwide ground stop in its history arstechnica.com
