FAA Declares Rare Nationwide Ground Stop Due to Communication Issue
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop for all flights on Friday afternoon, citing "extraordinary circumstances" and "reasons of safety." This action was taken due to a significant communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, confirmed the outage and stated that FAA technicians are investigating the problem. The advisory instructed all departing traffic to remain ground stopped until further notice, while inbound international flights would be managed on a case-by-case basis. Shortly after the advisory, an FAA website that lists air traffic control system notices also experienced an outage, further complicating the situation. This incident marks only the third nationwide ground stop in recent history, with previous occurrences on September 11, 2001, and January 11, 2023.