The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon, halting all departing flights across the United States after a communication failure at the air traffic control centers that guide aircraft across the country.
The order, issued by the FAA's Air Traffic Control System Command Center as Advisory 111, took effect at 3:54 p.m. ET and listed an end time of 11:30 p.m. ET. The directive told airlines to keep every departing flight on the ground until further notice, citing "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety." The FAA said the advisory was prompted by frequency issues across the National Airspace System, and flight tracking company Flightradar24 reported the order followed an equipment outage.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the stop on social media at about 4:16 p.m. ET, writing that the FAA "issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." He said FAA technicians were investigating the issue and that the agency would provide updates as they became available.
Flights already in the air were not ordered to land immediately, and international flights heading to the United States were to be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to the advisory. Flightradar24 said at 4:19 p.m. ET that about 3,100 aircraft were airborne and bound for U.S. airports, while no additional aircraft were taking off.
The national order did not come without warning signs. At 3:10 p.m. ET, the Command Center had stopped departures bound for Chicago O'Hare under Advisory 107, citing an equipment outage and "comms issues," and Chicago Midway received a matching stop. The Washington Examiner, citing two FAA employees and documents it reviewed, reported that the halt stemmed from a "rolling frequency outage" at the facilities that monitor aircraft in flight. The Air Current, an aviation industry publication, reported that the FAA confirmed "several impacts to ATC Frequencies and/or Radar capabilities."
As of 4:26 p.m. ET, the FAA's public status page no longer listed a nationwide ground stop, though the agency had issued no statement on a full resumption, and ground stops remained in place at O'Hare and Midway. Equipment-related departure delays were also listed at Newark, Houston, Las Vegas, Orlando, Phoenix and Teterboro. The FAA has not publicly confirmed a cause, has not said whether a cyberattack is suspected, and has not provided an estimate for when normal flight operations will return. Passengers scheduled to fly Friday should check with their airline before heading to the airport.
