Travel chaos worsens as communications problem causes ground stop at all U.S. airports while European airlines reel from wave of bomb threats
“This is a telecommunication outage.” Still, the massive disruption comes as airlines in Europe suffered a wave of phony bomb threats this week.
Key points
- travelers were suddenly thrown into limbo Friday after the FAA announced a nationwide ground stop at all U.S.
- The FAA last issued a nationwide ground stop in 2023, when files related to an alert system for pilots was unintentionally deleted.
- The National Weather Service also said there has been no disruption to its radar systems Friday, denying talk online that it had caused the FAA communications issue.
Just days before the ground stop, the FAA announced it would deploy an AI tool to help air-traffic controllers, though it’s not clear if that was a factor on Friday.
Earlier this year, flights at New York airports were halted when a contractor accidentally cut a fiber communications line in New Jersey.
Additional details
- Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Friday that Europe appeared to be facing “hybrid aggression and a form of psychological warfare.” Meanwhile, consumers are still grappling with the aftermath of a Microsoft outage that shut down email, collaboration and AI functions.
- The company said Friday it had no indication that the ground stop is related to its global outage.
- While they all appeared to hoaxes, at least one flight was diverted to a military base in France.
- In a post on X, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
- military bases, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters the Trump administration doesn’t suspect foul play was involved.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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