Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there is no indication yet of a nefarious act behind the FAA communications issue but added that officials were not ruling out any cause.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Flights halted at all airports across US due to air traffic control communications problems, FAA say
Speaking to reporters outside the White House Friday, Mullin said, “there’s no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for their loved ones.“
“There was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us,” he said. “It’s just a telecommunication outage as of right now.”
However, Mullin did not indicate when the stop would be lifted.
“We … have not discussed any time frame,” he said. “If I have a loved one at the airport, just to get everybody started back up …and the flights going again, it’s going to take some time, and so this isn’t going to just be resolved and turned around within the hour. This is going to take some time.”
Mullin said investigators will look at whether there is any link to the FAA’s nationwide rollout of a new artificial intelligence system to help identify problems and reroute planes. But that system operates out of one location near Washington, D.C., and just sends recommendations to the air traffic control centers.
The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.
But much work remains. Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.
The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers.
“If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” said Arroyo, who is 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.”
Friday’s ground stop was different than the one after Sept. 11 because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said.
AP writer Mead Gruver contributed to this report from Fort Collins, Colorado.
This story has been corrected to show the Sept. 11 attacks were in 2001.
Jackie Kucinich can be reached at jackie.kucinich@globe.com. Follow her @JFKucinich and on Instagram at @JackieKucinich.
