US air travel thrown into chaos as nationwide flights grounded over 'radar instability'

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US air travel thrown into chaos as nationwide flights grounded over 'radar instability' Submitted by MEE staff on Sat, 11/14/2026 - 09:33 The FAA lifted the ground stop after more…

Chaos was reported at airports across the United States on Friday after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop for departing flights following problems with radar and communications systems.

Passengers were stranded as hundreds of flights were diverted and thousands cancelled.

Officials said instability in radar systems made it unsafe to continue normal operations.

The FAA said in a statement that communications problems had affected multiple air traffic control centres and that technicians were investigating.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the disruption began at 3.36pm EST (8.36pm GMT), when radar and communications systems at facilities across the country became unstable.

“We started to have inconsistency in the data from the radars and our communication with airplanes,” Duffy said at a White House briefing.

He said more than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the ground stop was imposed. Those planes were allowed to continue to their destinations and land safely.

The FAA lifted the restriction at 8.15pm, but Duffy warned that restoring normal operations would take time.

“It's going to be slow,” he said, urging passengers to check with their airlines as carriers worked to reposition aircraft and crews.

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