All flights in the United States have been grounded because of “extraordinary circumstances”.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded all flights nationwide for “reasons of safety”, with inbound international flights managed on a case-by-case basis.
“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety. Attention all aircraft operators, by order of the Federal Aviation Command Center all airports are ground stopped. All departing traffic should remain grounded until further notice. Inbound international flights will be managed on a case by case basis,” it said.
Sean Duffy, the transport secretary, said in a post on X that the incident was being investigated.
“The @FAAnews issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres,” he wrote.
“FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”
🔴 #BREAKING | The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop. All departing traffic is grounded until further notice. pic.twitter.com/UIcOqI0tQa
— Airways Magazine (@airwaysmagazine) November 13, 2026
A ground stop is one of the most serious interventions the authority can make. The most notable occasion was September 11, 2001 when US authorities shut down American airspace following the terrorist attacks.
Friday was the second nationwide ground stop since the 9/11 attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
Last year, Congress approved US$12.5 billion to fix the FAA’s ageing communications system.
On Friday, the FAA and White House asked Congress for another US$30.1bn to address other issues.