APPLENEWS - STORY ADD
FAA ground stop live updates: Duffy blames 'overloaded' routers; thousands of flights canceled
The DHS secretary said there were no indications of a cyberattack.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare nationwide ground stop for all airports Friday -- a more than four-hour disruption that snarled travel from coast to coast with canceled flights and stranded passengers.
At a White House news conference Friday night, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed old technology that became overloaded and called on Congress to provide billions more in funding to modernize critical equipment, calling the situation an "emergency."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters there was no indication the incident stemmed from a cyberattack, but that officials were still investigating.
Thousands of flights were canceled amid the ground stop.
"I believe that it's going to take us some time to get back to capacity," Duffy said when asked how long air travelers should expect delays and cancellations to continue.
Key Headlines
- 'You will have more of these' unless system upgraded, Duffy says of outage that led to ground stop
- Duffy makes plea for funding: 'This is an emergency'
- Will 'take time' to make up for disruptions: Duffy
- 'Inconsistency' in data led to ground stop: Duffy
- 'No cyberattack,' Mullin says
- Nationwide ground stop lifted, FAA says
New AI program not behind ground stop, contractor says
AirSpace Intel, the contractor behind the SMART AI system that has been rolling out at facilities nationwide, put out a statement on X about the ground stop.
"The current ground stop is not based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC," the company said.
-ABC News' Ayesha Ali and Clara McMichael
Over 1,000 flights canceled and climbing: FlightAware
As of 6:04 p.m., 1,913 flights have been cancelled and 10,494 flights have been delayed nationwide amid the ground stop, according to FlightAware.
That number is expected to increase throughout the night as the telecommunications issue continues to persist.
DHS secretary: No indication of a 'nefarious attack'
Earlier Friday, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that the federal government is investigating the incident and there was no indication yet that it was a "nefarious attack" and that everyone is safe.
"It's just a telecommunications outage as of now," he told reporters.
Mullin said the government will look into the root of the problem.
"This isn't another 9/11. I cannot repeat that enough," he added.
FAA orders rare nationwide ground stop: What to know
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday for all airports due to a communication issue affecting air traffic control.
The agency's alert said the stop was "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."