WASHINGTON — The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says airplane departures can resume after the agency lifted a nationwide ground stop caused by communications problems. The FAA had grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon, causing hundreds of flights to be diverted. Officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. 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. The nation’s top homeland security official attributed the problem to a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication the communications failure was related to a cyberattack. Trump administration officials blamed ‘overloaded,’ ‘outdated’ systems. 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. 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 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. International flights were being handled on a case-by-case basis, according to U.S. 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. Top official says no sign yet of nefarious act 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. Some 11,000 flights carrying more than 1.5 million passengers were scheduled to take off from airports in the U.S. after 4 p.m. EST, raising the likelihood of more cancelations and flight diversions. United Airlines and American Airlines said flights already in the air will continue. “It will be all hands on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this nationwide ground stop,” American said in a statement on the social platform X. At Chicago O’Hare Airport on Friday afternoon, travellers passing through security learned about the ground stop when they looked up at screens that showed flight delays across the board. Some called friends or family members, debating whether to stay the night in Chicago or find another way to their destinations. Amber McQuilkin, 27, sat on a bench, disappointed that she might miss a trip with friends to New York for the League of Legends world finals. Her friends, she said, had already arrived there. “There’s not really any information being passed to me,” said the Seattle software engineer, who took a week of vacation for the trip. “I contemplated just abandoning the flight and driving, but then the more I thought about it, the more I’m like, that would be miserable.” Austin Curtis and his wife were rethinking their trip from South Bend, Indiana, to a friend’s baby shower in Denver after getting delayed during a layover in Chicago. They had boarded a flight to Denver from O’Hare International Airport when they were told to get off the plane. “We did see them taking luggage off our plane and others, so we’re assuming it’s going to be a pretty substantial delay,” Curtis said. They were unsure whether to get a hotel room or keep waiting out the delay at the airport. With care already in place for their two young children at home, they might stay the weekend in Chicago, he said. Sports teams stranded and cargo flights delayed NBA, NHL and college teams were left stranded as they tried to reach their destinations. Meanwhile, NFL teams were left to wonder whether the issue would be resolved in time to travel to their games this weekend. Cargo flights were also delayed by the ground stop. FedEx, the world’s largest cargo airline, said it is prepared to activate contingency plans to keep any possible disruptions at a minimum. U.S. airlines move about 61,000 tons of goods – from letters to packages -- to and from more than 220 countries daily, according to the industry trade group Airlines for America. Despite the nationwide FAA ground stop, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Texas on Friday afternoon on its latest test flight. The government has been working to overhaul outdated technology There is no timeline for restarting flights. Mullin said investigators will look at whether there is any link to the FAA’s nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system to help identify problems and reroute planes. But that system operates out of one location near Washington, D.C., and just sends recommendations to the air traffic control centers. The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved US$12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country. But much work remains. Duffy has said that another US$30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it. The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers. “If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” said Arroyo, who is a former United Airlines pilot. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.” Friday’s ground stop was different than the one after Sept. 11 because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said. ___ AP writers Mead Gruver in Fort Collins, Colorado; Ali Swenson in Chicago; and Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed to this report. ___ This story has been corrected to show the Sept. 11 attacks were in 2001. Josh Funk And Will Weissert, The Associated Press
