WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday night 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 grounding was just the second time since the Sept. 11 attacks, with officials citing “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. But the consequences were profound, disrupting potentially thousands of planned flights through at least late Friday night and upending travel plans for passengers who were heading home, expected as wedding guests or had other weekend plans.
“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, D.C., attorney, whose Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., 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.
LOCAL REACTION
John Boccieri, member-elect of the Ohio House of Representatives from the 58th District and a former commercial and Air Force pilot, said he was finished visiting the Pentagon with the military and waiting for an airplane to take off when the ground stop was ordered.
“The grounds got closed. It’s a zoo, like you can imagine – hundreds, if not thousands, of passengers are coming into the airport, are going to be stranded here,” Boccieri said. “No rental cars, no hotels; it’s kind of a chaos moment, if you will.”
Boccieri explained that, when the FAA orders a ground stop, any airborne aircraft has to find a landing spot.
“It’s unlikely that every aircraft will make it to its destination for the simple reason that they have maximum, you know, they have limited parking spots,” Boccieri said. “Limited gates, a limited ramp space, that can handle all those (planes).”
Boccieri said he wouldn’t characterize it as an emergency until all the facts are known, but considered it to be a crisis when they’re making all aircraft land.
Anthony Trevena, executive director of the Youngstown Warren Regional Airport, said the airport’s team is on standby, in case any planes may need to be diverted.
“Our staff, as well as the team at JETS FBO, would help to make sure that they receive accommodations necessary while they’re here at the Youngstown market,” Trevena said.
Trevena said the airport has not received any diversions, nor do they anticipate receiving any, but they plan on staying on standby until the airspace is cleared.
THE DETAILS
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.
Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne 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.”
“Everybody’s safe. There’s no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying,” Mullin said.
Nearly 481 flights in the U.S. had been canceled or not taken off within 180 minutes of their scheduled departure time, as of 4:40 p.m. Eastern time Friday, according to Cirium, an aviation analytics company. That represents about 1.8% of the 26,284 flights that were scheduled to depart Friday from the U.S.
Most of the flights affected so far were due to take off from airports in New York, San Francisco and Boston. With some 11,000 flights scheduled to take off from U.S. airports after 4 p.m. Eastern time, more cancellations were expected, the company said.
At Chicago O’Hare Airport on Friday afternoon, travelers passing through security learned about the ground stop when they gazed 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.”
Despite the nationwide FAA ground stop, SpaceX launched its Starship rocket from Texas on Friday afternoon on its latest test flight.
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 $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 $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.
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