FAA issues nationwide ground stop for all flights due to 'extraodinary circumstances,' safety

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.

The Salt Lake City International Airport was affected and said it "is aware of the FAA nationwide ground stop. At this time the FAA does not have an estimated time for a return to service. SLC is working with our concessionaires and other airport tenants to support passengers whose travel has been unexpectedly impacted," in a social media post.

The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating.

The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.

But much work remains. Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.

The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers.

"If you don't have that ability, whether it's because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you've got to stop airplanes on the ground," said Arroyo, who is a former United Airlines pilot. "And not put them in the air where you're going to risk not being able to communicate with them."

The last time there was a nationwide ground stop in January of 2023 when a pilot notification system went down. Prior to that, the last time a nationwide ground stop was issued was after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Friday's ground stop was different than the one after Sept. 11 because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said.

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