The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stopped departures at every U.S. airport on Friday afternoon, SecurityWeek reported. The agency cited "extraordinary circumstances" and said the step was for safety. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote on X that a communication problem reached every Air Route Traffic Control Center in the country. He said FAA technicians were looking into it. The FAA told departing flights to stay on the ground until further notice. It said it would handle inbound international flights case by case.
SecurityWeek said the cause is unclear. Federal officials have not said what set off the problem. It is also not clear whether a cyberattack is involved. No end time for the ground stop has been given. The FAA had also halted traffic in Chicago over air traffic control communications problems before the nationwide order. The sources do not say whether the two events are linked.
This is interpretation, not a finding, because the cause is unknown. A problem that reached every control center could point to a shared dependency, but it could also be several separate problems. Buyers and operators can ask which shared services their own systems rely on, and what stops if one fails.