WASHINGTON: The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon for just the second time since the 9/11 attacks, as officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.
The nation’s top homeland security official attributed the problem to a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication yet of a nefarious act. The consequences were profound, disrupting potentially thousands of planned flights through at least late Friday night and upending travel plans for passengers.
“It’s frustrating. This certainly sounds like it’s going to be more than the usual run-of-the-mill delay. I look forward to finding out why,” said Jeff Dubner, a Washington attorney whose Alaska Airlines flight home from Los Angeles was already half an hour late and taxiing to the runway when the plane came to a halt.
The nationwide ground stop was the first since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, and the second since the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Friday’s restrictions were imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” according to an FAA notice. The agency was investigating a communication issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
International flights were being handled on a case-by-case basis, according to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, with some seen taking off Friday evening. Meanwhile, some flights within Alaska and Hawaii were not impacted, Alaska Airlines said.
Mullin told reporters at the White House that there was no indication yet that “this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications outage as of right now.”
“Everybody’s safe. There’s no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying,” Mullin said.
At least 827 flights have been diverted so far as a result. As of 7:05 p.m. EST, 670 flights were sent back to the airport from where they originally took off, while 157 were redirected to a different airport, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company.
The airports where many of the flights ended up being diverted included Washington Dulles International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport and Nashville International Airport.
