FAA orders nationwide ground stop after air traffic communications outage
The FAA halted departing U.S. flights on Nov. 13 as technicians investigated communications problems at air traffic control centers.
By Dev Ramirez · Crypto Correspondent
· 3 min read
The FAA nationwide ground stop reported on Friday, Nov. 13, held departing flights across the United States after communications problems affected air traffic control centers. For travelers, the immediate effect was straightforward: planes waiting to leave were held at their departure airports, while aircraft already airborne were allowed to continue and land, according to CNBC and USA Today.
The Federal Aviation Administration described the event as a temporary telecommunications outage and said it took the action out of caution, CNBC reported. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the communications issue affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, the facilities that guide aircraft at high altitude along their routes, according to USA Today.
The available reports did not establish what caused the outage. FAA technicians were investigating, Duffy said. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication at that point that the issue was a threat to the United States or a nefarious attack, according to CNBC and USA Today.
What does an FAA nationwide ground stop mean for travelers?
A ground stop prevents aircraft from taking off from their departure points. It is different from an instruction for planes already in the air to land immediately. Airlines said airborne flights would continue, CNBC reported, while inbound international flights were to be handled case by case.
Some departures began moving as air traffic facilities recovered. The FAA said flights could depart through coordination across the air traffic control system as those facilities came back online, CNBC reported. Boston Logan Airport said shortly before 6 p.m. ET that some transatlantic flights were being permitted to depart, according to USA Today.
The scale of disruption depended on the time and measure used. CNBC reported that more than 10,000 flights had been disrupted. USA Today, citing FlightAware at 6:40 p.m. ET, reported more than 10,000 delays and more than 3,000 cancellations. Those figures should not be treated as the same measure or as a final tally.
Eurocontrol, Europe’s air traffic management organization, said U.S.-bound departures from 42 countries were suspended at the FAA’s request from 5 p.m. to midnight Eastern time, USA Today reported. The notice did not direct planes already in flight to turn around or divert.
Travelers affected by the disruption were advised by major airlines to check directly with their carrier for real-time flight information. Airlines said they would work with affected customers, CNBC reported.
How does this compare with the 2023 FAA ground stop?
Nationwide stops are unusual. The FAA also paused departures nationwide in January 2023 because of issues with the Notice to Air Missions, or NOTAM, system, which provides pilots and operators with safety information. The agency later said that 2023 stop was lifted at 9:07 a.m. ET on Jan. 11 after testing. Its preliminary review linked that separate incident to files unintentionally deleted during database work and found no evidence of a cyberattack.
That explanation does not establish the cause of the Nov. 13 communications issue. The FAA’s public airspace-status page included airport-specific delays and closures, but the supplied status snapshot did not document the nationwide stop or say whether it had been lifted.
This story draws on original reporting from CNBC.
