FAA issues rare nationwide ground stop due to communication issues

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a nationwide ground stop due to “extraordinary circumstances.” 

“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” the agency told Fox News Digital. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide updates.”

In an alert, the FAA said all airports are ground stopped “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” 

“All departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice,” the FAA continued. “Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis.”

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The FAA said the ground stop was caused by a communications issue, but they have not ruled out a cyberattack.

The ground stop began just before 4 p.m. ET. 

People line up to try and retrieve luggage during delays and cancellations at LaGuardia airport on Friday.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC,” Air Space Intelligence (ASI) said. 

ASI is the company contracted by FAA/DOT to oversee the rollout of the new AI ATC software. This is in response to online rumors that it’s related to the ground stop.

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While rare, a nationwide ground stop isn’t unprecedented.

Friday’s announcement marks the second time such a measure has been ordered since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, when the entire airspace over the United States was closed.

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The most recent nationwide ground stop occurred on Jan. 11, 2023, following a catastrophic failure of the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) safety system, which resulted in thousands of delayed flights and hundreds of cancellations.

Air Traffic Control issued a ground stop notice on Friday.  (FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center / Unknown)

Immediately following the alert, 3,100 flights were inbound for U.S. airports, according to flight tracking platform FlightRadar24. Flights are usually allowed to land during a ground stop. 

“Several of us were sitting in one of the airport lounges here at Washington National Airport. News started crossing our screens and on our phones. … The headline was that there’s a nationwide ground stop due to an extraordinary safety concern of some kind. So a very, a very vague message, at best. There was a lot of concern at that point,” Jim Olson, Chief Communications & Collaboration Officer at Corus, who was stuck at Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport, told Fox News Digital. 

He continued, “I work in the airline industry, and nationwide ground stops are very rare. … My initial instinct was to circle back to what it appears to be — a technical issue of some kind. Technical issues with an antiquated air traffic control system are nothing new. It’s never caused, or at least in recent years, not caused a nationwide ground stop, but that was kind of my initial instinct.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X: “The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said at the White House: “This is not 9/11,” adding that it was being investigated as a telecommunication outage.”

“It’s a telecommunication outage. I’m not going to get ahead of FAA. That’s their lane to talk about,” Mullen said. “We were wanting to assure all the American people this isn’t a safety risk to the American people or another 9/11. I think that’s what a lot of people are trying to make the comparison to, and that’s not the case.” 

Mullin said all flights are accounted for and there is no threat to the public.

“We are able to communicate at certain levels, but, but it’s overwhelmed some of the systems we have,” he explained. “Once again, Sean Duffy, Secretary Duffy, is on this. He was on the phone earlier with the president and several of us. And they’re doing a phenomenal job in crisis mode.” 

A view from the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, filled with waiting passengers on Friday.  (Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)

Mullin reiterated that President Donald Trump had been briefed. 

Trump later also told Fox News that it did not “seem” like a cyberattack. 

The FAA told Fox News any claims there was a software outage issue are false. 

Senior officials who spoke to Fox News Digital said the issue is not expected to be caused by “anything nefarious at this time” and they “don’t believe this a cyberattack issue.”

By 6 p.m. ET, the FAA said the ground stop was still in effect. “As enroute facilities recover flights will be allowed to depart through coordination with the Air Traffic Control System Command Center. 

Several airports put out their own statements.

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Atlanta International Airport wrote on X: “The FAA has issued a ground stop affecting departures at ATL and other major airports. Departures are temporarily suspended. Travelers should check with their airlines for flight updates. We will provide an update as more information becomes available.”

Boston’s Logan International Airport released a statement that read: “The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop impacting flights at Boston Logan and airports across the country. We are monitoring the situation and working with the FAA and our airline partners. Passengers should check with their airlines for the latest flight updates.”

American Airlines planes remain at their gates, as a Delta Airlines plane sit on the tarmac at LaGuardia airport on Friday.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images / Getty Images)

“A nationwide @FAAnews ground stop is currently in effect,” Miami International Airport said. “If you’re flying today, please check with your airline for your flight status before leaving for the airport. Thank you for your patience and understanding.” 

The Orlando International Airport said: “The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop. MCO is receiving enroute arrivals, but there are no departures. All flights are on a delay. From 3:30 p.m. to midnight, there are approximately 220 scheduled departures.”

We ask that passengers please check with their airlines to confirm future departure times.

The Nashville International Airport advised passengers to get hotels because there was no word on when the ground stop would be lifted. 

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The Pittsburgh International Airport said: “Medical and military flights remain able to operate from PIT and Allegheny County Airport. Pittsburgh International Airport and its TSA checkpoint remain open. Our teams continue to coordinate with the FAA and our airline partners and will provide additional updates as information becomes available.”

American Airlines issued their own statement that said: “The FAA has temporarily paused departures nationwide. Flights already in the air can continue to their destinations. We expect disruption to our schedule for the rest of the day, depending on the length of the FAA’s nationwide ground stop. 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.”

JetBlue put out a statement that said: “In response to the FAA’s nationwide ground stop, JetBlue has temporarily suspended all departures. Flights already in the air are continuing to their destinations. Safety remains our top priority, and we are working closely with the FAA as we monitor the situation.”

People wait onboard a plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DC on Friday.  (Brendan Smialowski/ AFP via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

The airline said that customers should “expect delays and cancellations. We encourage customers to check their flight status on jetblue.com or the JetBlue app for the latest information as it becomes available.”

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, led by Ted Cruz, wrote in a statement posted to X: “A nationwide ground stop is a rare but major disruption. It appears to be related to FAA’s ARTCCs. @FAAnews will be updating Congress and the flying public about the problem, but the incident highlights the need to prioritize modernizing ARTCCs over other projects. No new ARTCC has been built since LBJ was in office. It’s why Chairman @SenTedCruz successfully got $1.9 billion in Working Families Tax Cut Act to replace and consolidate outdated ARTCCs. We are in touch with @FAAnews and @SecDuffy who are working to resolve this issue quickly and safely.”

Amtrak also reported “higher-than-normal call volumes” related to people trying to find alternate transportation because of the ground stop. 

The National Weather Service clarified: “In case you heard otherwise, there is no radar outage and http://radar.weather.gov is fully operational! Outdated content from isolated webpages stating otherwise has been circulating, but NWS radars are operating normally.”

FedEx said: “We are monitoring the ground stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration. We are prepared to activate contingency plans to minimize service disruptions and will resume normal flight operations as soon as the FAA permits. Customers can monitor the status of their shipments on fedex.com.” 

Enterprise Rent-A-Car confirmed that it is seeing higher-than-usual demand. 

“We recognize flight disruptions can create unexpected challenges and stress for travelers,” the renatal car company said in a statement. “Our teams at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo are focused on supporting travelers whose plans have been impacted, and we’re doing everything we can to assist customers based on local vehicle availability. We encourage customers to check our websites for the latest availability and location information.”

Microsoft even weighed in after its own outage on Thursday. “We have no indication that the FAA’s nationwide ground stop is related to any Microsoft services,” the company said. 

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Some international flights have started departing from airports like Logan, Dulles and LAX, including Rome and Frankfurt and Shanghai, according to FlightRader24, but all domestic flights remain grounded. Some flights to Hawaii have also been allowed to depart. 

Fox News’ Jessica Mekles contributed to this report.