OMM Newsroom
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted a nationwide flight ban on Friday, Nov. 13, after a communications failure at air traffic control centers. The situation caused major disruption at airports and led to the longest nationwide flight stoppage in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, AnewZ reported.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said US airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time (1:15 a.m. GMT). He said flights would resume gradually and that it would take time for airlines to return to normal operations. “The process will be slow,” Duffy told reporters at the White House.
More than 6,600 flights were canceled and 8,600 delayed, according to FlightRadar24. Another 1,500 flights had already been canceled for Sunday. Aviation analysts said the four-hour nationwide flight stoppage could affect airline schedules for several days.
The FAA said telecommunications problems began at 3:36 p.m. Eastern Time at its facilities nationwide and at terminal radar approach control facilities (TRACONs). More than 3,500 aircraft were in the air at the time. After flights were halted as a safety precaution, pilots and air traffic controllers followed established procedures and landed aircraft safely. By 8 p.m. Eastern Time, the number of aircraft in US airspace had fallen to fewer than 400.
The FAA said not all radar and communications systems had failed. Flights carrying emergency medical services, vital cargo and law enforcement personnel were granted exemptions.
Duffy said tens of thousands of passengers were stranded at airports across the country. He said he and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin met with US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the failure.
Duffy said the problem began at 3:36 p.m. Eastern Time, when radar and communications systems became unstable. “Our switches and routers became overloaded with data, and inconsistencies began to appear in the information coming from those devices. That is why we shut down the system,” he said.
The secretary said radar and communications were never completely lost, allowing thousands of aircraft to land safely. He said the immediate cause of the problem had been addressed and that flights were safe. However, he said a broader overhaul of the aging air traffic control system was needed to prevent similar failures.
The incident was the latest and most serious sign of strain on the US air traffic control system, which faces aging technology and equipment, communications problems and a shortage of several thousand controllers.
