FAA Ground Stop Halts US Departures After Communications Failure
Departures resumed after more than four hours, but delays are expected to last several days while the root cause remains unannounced.
A nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday, November 13, halted departures at U.S. airports after a communications failure hit the agency's air route traffic control centers, and it was lifted at 8:15 pm ET after more than four hours. Officials report no evidence of hacking, with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin saying no attack indicators had surfaced while adding the investigators have not ruled one out. The FBI is reportedly examining a software update as a possible trigger, and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed to aging equipment whose switches and routers were overwhelmed by data before the system was shut down. CBS News, citing multiple sources, linked the failure to an update on a private communications network operated by L3Harris that rebooted and crashed, and officials said it was unrelated to a separate Microsoft outage and to the FAA's new AI systems. Departures have resumed, but delays are expected to persist for several days and no official root cause has been announced.
Why it matters
The stop showed how dependent US air travel is on the communications systems behind air route traffic control. Officials have not ruled out a cyberattack, but the leading explanations point to aging equipment and a software update on a network operated by L3Harris. Passengers face continued disruption in the days ahead, and the outcome of the investigation will determine whether the failure was a one-off or a sign of wider weakness in the system.
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