The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered a nationwide ground stop on all departing flights in the United States after a communication issue affected every Air Route Traffic Control Center.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA had taken the action “following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers”. He said technicians were investigating and that further updates would be issued.
The FAA said the measure had been imposed because of “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”. An alert from the Air Traffic Control System Command Center instructed airports to keep all departing traffic grounded until further notice.
Inbound international flights were to be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to the alert.
The nationwide action came shortly after ground stops were issued at Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Chicago Midway International Airport because of an equipment outage.
