The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration suspended all flights across the country on Friday afternoon due to communication problems at regional air traffic control centers.
The agency's notice (known as FAA for its acronym in English) indicates that the suspension was imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for security reasons”.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications problem affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct aircraft between airports nationwide. He added that FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide grounding since January 2023, when a key agency computer system failed. Before that, the last grounding was after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that so far there was no indication that “this was a malicious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications disruption.”
“Everyone is safe. There’s no reason to worry about your loved ones if they’re flying,” Mullin said.
There is no estimated time for flights to resume. Mullin said investigators will look into whether there is any link to the nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system designed to help identify problems and reroute aircraft. But that system operates from a location near Washington, D.C., and only sends recommendations to air traffic control centers.
How many flights have been affected in RDU?
Authorities have not indicated when the outage might be resolved. As of 6:20 p.m., 162 flights had been delayed at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and another 52 had been canceled, some before the nationwide suspension of departures, according to FlightAware.
RDU recommends that travelers check the updated information on the airport website or confirm their flight status directly with their airline.
The nationwide failure will have ripple effects: some flights will suffer delays or cancellations because the planes are not where they should be according to their schedules.
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They are working on modernizing the system
The U.S. government has been working to modernize the outdated technology air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12,500 billion for the project last year. Old copper cables have been replaced with fiber optic lines, and aging radio systems are being phased out at airports across the country.
But there is still much work to be done. Duffy has said that another $30,000 billion will be needed to complete the project, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.
The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communications outage in September that disrupted hundreds of flights in the Northeast, said air safety expert Steve Arroyo, except this time it was nationwide. It could be linked to outdated technology used by air traffic controllers.
“If you don’t have that capability, whether it’s because the old cables they have are simply deteriorated or for any other reason, you have to keep the planes grounded,” said Arroyo, a former United Airlines pilot. “And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.”
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