US halts all flight departures after air traffic control disruption
Planes already in the air could still land, while officials said they would handle inbound international flights case by case
The US Federal Aviation Administration halted all flight departures nationwide on Friday after communications problems affected several air traffic control centers. The agency said its technicians were investigating the disruption.
In its initial advisory, the agency cited “extraordinary circumstances” and safety concerns and told aircraft operators to keep all departing flights on the ground until further notice. Planes already in the air could still land, and the agency said it would handle inbound international flights case by case.
The nationwide order came shortly after the agency halted traffic in Chicago over air traffic control communications problems, Reuters reported.
The last nationwide ground stop came in January 2023, when a failure in a system that sends safety notices to pilots halted domestic departures for less than two hours.