FAA halts all US flight departures after air traffic control breakdown
The FAA issued a rare nationwide ground stop after air traffic control systems failed to communicate across all centres.
The failure affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centres nationwide on Friday afternoon US time. Planes already in the air can land, but departures from the ground are blocked.
The cause wasn't immediately clear when the ground stop began. It's only the third nationwide ground stop in US history: 9/11 was first, a 2023 FAA system failure second.
The stoppage hits thousands of flights and hundreds of thousands of passengers daily, since US airspace normally handles around 45,000 flights a day. The FAA and White House have now asked Congress for $30.1 billion to address other issues.
- 45,000
- Daily flights normally handled
- 3
- Times nationwide ground stop occurred
- 30.1 billion dollars
- Funding requested from Congress
- All Air Route Traffic Control Centres
- Scope of failure
Why it mattersHundreds of thousands of passengers face severe delays and disruptions; the failure shows how dependent modern aviation is on aging, fragile infrastructure.
AustraliaAustralian travellers heading to or transiting through the US face major delays; international flights routing through US airspace may be rerouted or held on the ground.
Corroborated by7NEWS·The Nightly
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 16 h ago
