The Federal Aviation Administration today grounded all domestic flights in the U.S.
The rare order was issued by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center, or ATCSCC. It’s an FAA facility in Northern Virginia that is responsible for monitoring air traffic and mitigating potential risks. When ATCSCC identifies issues such as airport congestion, it provides local officials with guidance on how to address them.
The ATCSCC sent today’s ground stop order to all 22 regional air traffic control centers in the U.S. The memo explained that the move was “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy elaborated in a post on X that the FAA “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.”
The post didn’t provide any details about the communication issue. According to CBS News, the problem affects a “private communications network” that connects components of the U.S. air traffic control system. The outlet cited sources as saying that an update caused the network to reboot, which in turn led it to crash.
On Tuesday, the FAA announced that it was expanding its use of an artificial intelligence system called SMART. The software analyzes weather patterns, flight paths and related data points to generate air traffic scheduling recommendations. The FAA says that the software is designed to reduce delays and fuel consumption.
The agency last issued a national ground stop in January 2023. It was a response to an issue in the FAA’s NOTAM system, which it uses to notify pilots about hazards such as closed runways. The shutdown lasted about two hours and grounded 9,500 flights.
The current shutdown is already much longer, having started at 3:54 p.m. EST. More than 13,000 flights have reportedly been delayed or canceled. Eurocontrol, an organization that helps European Union member states coordinate air traffic, suspended flights to the U.S. at the request of the FAA.
FAA officials said that inbound international flights will be “handled on a case by case basis.” American Airlines, meanwhile, stated that flights already airborne will proceed to their destinations. The airline reportedly expects the disruption to last all day.
Photo of FAA headquarters: Wikimedia
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