WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration ordered all U.S. airports to hold departing traffic on November 13 after what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said was “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.” Earlier the same day the command center issued ground stops for Chicago O’Hare and Midway citing equipment outage.
The Air Traffic Control System Command Center issued Advisory 111 at 8:54 PM UTC. Its event window ran from 8:53 PM UTC November 13 through 4:00 AM UTC November 14, with an effective time through 4:30 AM UTC November 14.
The advisory ordered all airports ground stopped due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety, with all departing traffic to remain ground stopped until further notice and inbound international flights managed on a case-by-case basis. Aircraft already airborne were permitted to continue.
American Airlines stated on its official account that the FAA was working to resolve a technical issue affecting telecommunications at many air traffic control facilities across the country.
Locations Affected
The ground stop applies to all airports in the United States. Air Route Traffic Control Centers are the en-route facilities that handle aircraft in the cruise phase across U.S. airspace.
Threat Assessment
U.S. THREAT ASSESSMENT: MONITORING
GLOBAL THREAT ASSESSMENT: MONITORING
EVENT: Nationwide FAA ground stop for departing flights
THREAT: Operational disruption to U.S. civil aviation confirmed; no attack on persons, vessels, aircraft, or territory established by official sources.
FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center Advisory 111 ordering the nationwide ground stop for safety reasons.
Public confirmation by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy of the communication issue affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers and the ongoing investigation by FAA technicians.
Advisory 117, issued at 9:21 PM UTC, extended how long filed flight plans stay active for all en-route centers, citing a “nationwide communications failure,” with an event time through 5:00 AM UTC November 14..
American Airlines statement that the FAA was working to resolve a technical issue affecting telecommunications at many air traffic control facilities.
Confirmation that the communication issue has been resolved and the ground stop lifted, or official assessment of any broader systems impact, would move the assessments.
