US lifts nationwide ground stop, allowing flights to resume after hours of travel chaos
The rare nationwide ground stop order that sparked travel chaos was issued due to a communications problem affecting US air traffic control towers.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop for airports on Saturday, hours after halting all departures from US airports earlier in the week. The ground stop was implemented due to a communication issue affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, according to US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.
Over 4,500 flights were canceled on Friday, with about 700 additional flights delayed on Saturday. More cancellations are expected as 11,000 flights were scheduled to depart from US airports after 4 p.m. local time. The FAA stated that all departing traffic would remain grounded until further notice. The issue was deemed a legacy network problem, with no indication of a cyberattack or AI involvement.
US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin assured the public that they were never in danger. The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation and NAV Canada also suspended flights to and from US airports while monitoring the situation.
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