FAA Grounds All Flights Nationwide Due to Communication Issues
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday (November 13) from all airports.
At about 4pm ET, all flights across the country were ordered not to take off “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, took to X to address the situation, saying that there is a “communication issue.”
“The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,” Duffy tweeted. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
As of right now, the cause of the iusse has not been determined.
The FAA says inbound international flights will be managed on a “case by case basis.”
This is now the second time since September 11, 2001 that the FAA has ordered a nationwide ground stop. The last time was in 2023 when the FAA’s NOTAM system went down and pilots could not get their pre-departure paperwork.
Air Route Traffic Control Centers are responsible for all flights above 18,000. There are 22 of those centers across the U.S.
Earlier in the day, the FAA issued a ground stop at Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports due to equipment outage.
