US homeland security chief says cyberattack not ruled out in nationwide flight outage

Detailed summary

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday after communications failures affected air traffic control centers, disrupting thousands of…

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said Friday that a major air traffic control system outage appeared to have been caused by a mechanical failure, although investigators had not ruled out a cyberattack.

“It appears that this was mechanically driven. However, we're still looking,” Mullin told reporters.

He said federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, had been mobilized to investigate the incident, but there was no evidence so far of unauthorized access or indications that anyone had claimed responsibility.

Mullin described the disruption as a national emergency and warned that aging air traffic control infrastructure posed a national security risk.

“Our air traffic control system is outdated, and it hasn't been a priority from Congress,” he said, urging lawmakers to approve funding for upgrades.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday after communications failures affected air traffic control centers, disrupting thousands of flights. The FAA later lifted the restrictions, although airlines warned that delays and cancellations could continue as operations recovered.

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