This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: FAA orders nationwide ground stop after U.S. communication outage.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop at all airports on Friday afternoon because of extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns, NBC Southern California reported.
The Friday advisory said airports were under a ground stop, and departing flights should remain grounded until further notice under Federal Aviation Command Center orders given to aircraft operators. Inbound flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis. No immediate details were available about why the nationwide stop happened.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the ground stop resulted from “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.” He said FAA technicians were investigating the issue and would provide updates immediately.
More than 200 flights faced delays at Chicago’s airports on Friday afternoon. The Chicago Department of Aviation counted 213 delays at O’Hare International Airport and 55 at Midway International Airport at 3:11 p.m. Friday.
United Airlines said flights already in the air would keep flying, and new domestic departures would not leave while the ground stop continued. The airline said it would help customers reach their destinations after the issue was resolved.
Air traffic control transmissions suggested a further update would come around 10:30 p.m. CT on Friday. A January 2023 malfunction of a major FAA computer system caused the previous nationwide ground stop before this one. The earlier nationwide ground stop happened after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
An editor’s note states the ground stop issued Friday afternoon has since been lifted.
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