White House declares 'national emergency' over hours-long FAA ground stop: 'Nothing is certain right now'

Résumé détaillé

The halt triggered immediate chaos and confusion for travelers, with departure boards at many airports showing flights were operating normally, even as many were unable to board.

By STEPHEN M. LEPORE, US SENIOR REPORTER and CHRIS MELORE, US DEPUTY SCIENCE EDITOR and NIKKI SCHWAB, CHIEF CAMPAIGN CORRESPONDENT and WILKO MARTÍNEZ-CACHERO, US REPORTER

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the hours-long ground stop of all flights across the country was a 'national emergency' as he cautioned that there was 'nothing completely certain right now.'

Speaking at a press briefing at the White House, Mullin said the introduction of some new technology into an old air traffic control system overwhelmed it.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said 'old hardware that went down' caused the ground stop of all flights across the country after it was lifted shortly before 8.30pm ET following a major communications outage.

Trump administration officials said the system needed funding for a complete overhaul, estimating a $50 billion price tag.

'I think the question for the American people is, do you want your Congress to fund this?' Duffy added. 'President Trump has asked for the money.'

Duffy said the 'instability' in the radar communications at air traffic control centers started at 3.36pm. More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when the ground stop was issued.

So far, at least 8,200 flights into or out of the US have been delayed today, while nearly 7,500 others have been canceled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.

More than 1,700 cancelations have already been reported for Saturday, as well.

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