US lifts ground stop after thousands of US flights halted, but disruptions may last

详细摘要

The Federal Aviation Administration announced the ground stop for all airports due to a “telecommunications outage” that affected over 14,000 flights. | World News

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide ground stop for US flights that halted thousands of departures for more than four hours on Friday, disrupting travel for hundreds of thousands of people.

Officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” for the ground stop, with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying a communications issue affected the regional air traffic control centres that direct planes between airports nationwide.

Aircraft departures can now resume after the FAA lifted the ground stop, although the disruption is expected to last for days. Over 10,000 flights have been delayed, and another 4,000 have already been cancelled due to the outage, according to data from FlightAware.

Also Read | FAA employee explains possible cause of nationwide ground stop on flights: ‘Wouldn’t rule out cyberattack’

The FAA grounded all departing US flights for just the second time since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, as officials cited "extraordinary circumstances" caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centres. The agency described the problem as "a temporary telecommunications outage" and said it was acting "out of an abundance of caution."

The outage appeared to be affecting a telecommunications network overseen by L3Harris Technologies, which handles crucial radio frequencies that air-traffic controllers use to communicate with pilots, according to a Wall Street Journal report. It was not clear whether the outage had affected the radar feeds used to keep aircraft safely separated during flights.

However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a threat to the United States and "this isn't another 9/11."

"There was no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious attack against us, it's just a telecommunication outage, as of right now," he said at a briefing, adding that officials had not ruled out anything at the point.

With thousands of flights hit by the ground stop, reports warned that disruptions…

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