FAA issues ‘ground stop’ for all flights across US due to ‘extraordinary circumstances and safety issues’ - The Independent

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U.S. officials have not ruled out a cyber attack after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare nationwide ground stop on all flights, but reassured the public that “everybody’s safe.”

A halt on all flights across the U.S. was declared Friday afternoon by the FAA “due to extraordinary circumstances and for safety reasons.”

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that there was “no indication yet that this was a nefarious attack against us” while speaking outside the White House.

“Everybody’s safe, there’s no reason to be concerned about your loved ones,” Mullin said. “This isn’t another 9/11,” he added. “This is a telecommunication outage.”

Friday was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11, 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.

President Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation, Mullin added.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the ground stop was issued at all U.S. airports “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”

“FAA technicians are investigating the issue,” Duffy added. “We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

More than 30,000 flights were still scheduled for Friday before the ground stop, The New York Times reported.

Prior to the nationwide order, the FAA paused departures in Chicago because of air traffic control communication problems.

The agency stated, “All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice.”

It added that international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to fix the FAA’s aging communications system, and on Friday the FAA and White House asked Congress for another $30.1 billion to address other issues.

Aviation experts weighed in on the possible response from pilots who were already up in the air when the ground stop was ordered.

“All pilots in that environment know what to do,” John Nance, an aviation analyst and pilot, told ABC News.

“Every pilot up there is going to be trying to find a frequency that works, and as long as they do, they can pass information back and forth and see whether or not their flight plan needs to be amended in terms of their destination,” he added.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued a statement on X which read: “I’ve spoken with Port Authority Executive Director Kathryn Garcia and been briefed on the FAA’s nationwide ground stop. We’re working to get answers from federal officials, and I’ll keep New Yorkers updated as we learn more.”