FAA outage LIVE: UK flights impacted after all planes grounded at US airports

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The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued a nationwide ground stop in the US due to frequency issues across the National Airspace System (NAS) until 2200 UTC.

A major technical failure affecting America's air traffic control system sparked widespread disruption, grounding flights across the US and causing delays and cancellations to services between Europe and the United States.

The disruption has already affected British travellers, with British Airways cancelling a flight from Heathrow to New York which was due to depart on Friday night. Manchester Airport has also warned that three US-bound Virgin Atlantic flights scheduled to leave on Saturday morning are likely to be affected. Gatwick, meanwhile, is understood to be facing minimal impact.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground stop after experiencing serious communication problems across the National Airspace System, forcing airports across the country to halt departing flights.

The outage is understood to have been caused by an update to the private communications network connecting America's air traffic control system. According to CBS News, the update triggered a system reboot which ultimately led to a communications failure.

The disruption also spread across the Atlantic. Eurocontrol suspended flights departing from the European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) area bound for US airports, following a request from the FAA. The suspension was scheduled to run from 10pm GMT on Friday until 5am GMT on Saturday.

The FAA has since begun gradually lifting restrictions as systems come back online, with some flights receiving clearance to depart for overseas destinations, including Germany and Prague.

However, the authority has warned that residual delays and cancellations are expected across the US. The full impact on transatlantic schedules remains to be seen, with airlines warning passengers to check their flight status before travelling.

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the technical issue would take time to resolve, but reassured the public there was no indication of a terrorist threat.

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