The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop halting all departing flights across the United States.
Key Details
- Reason: A temporary telecommunications and radar communication issue affecting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers (with preliminary reports tracing the root start to the Kansas City Center before spreading).
- Status of Flights: All departing flights are held on the ground. Planes currently in the air are allowed to continue to their destinations or manage diversions on a case-by-case basis. Inbound international flights are also being handled individually.
- Threat Assessment: Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin stated there is no known threat to the U.S. and no indication of a cyberattack or link to earlier Microsoft outages.
- Precedent: This marks only the third nationwide ground stop in U.S. history outside of September 11, 2001, following a prior incident in January 2023 caused by a failure in the NOTAM (Notice to Air Missions) system.