US reopens airspace after nationwide flight halt, rules out cyberattack
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday lifted an hours-long ground stop at the nation’s airports, with top officials explaining that the disruption was due to old equipment and not a cyberattack or sweeping Microsoft outage.
On Friday, the United States lifted a nationwide ground stop at its airports, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed during a late-night briefing at the White House. The disruption was attributed to outdated equipment, not a cyberattack or a widespread Microsoft outage, according to officials. Duffy warned that it would take time for the travel chaos to clear.
At 8:15 Eastern Time, Duffy announced that the airspace had been reopened. However, he clarified that not all flights would be operating immediately, as the process would be slow. The issue arose a day after Duffy and the White House requested $30 billion from Congress for the upgrade and modernization of the US Air Traffic Control System. The system's switches and routers reportedly overloaded with data, causing them to go down.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dismissed theories about a coordinated cyber assault on the United States or any connection to the global Microsoft outage. He stressed that there was no evidence of cyber threats or attacks, emphasizing that no footprints or traces of such incidents were detected. Despite the incident occurring on Friday the 13th, Mullin reiterated that the situation was safe for Americans to fly.
He also defended President Donald Trump, who had not yet commented on the air stoppage, stating that the two officials were communicating throughout the situation.
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