The United States was placed on high alert as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) took an extremely rare and unprecedented step, issuing a nationwide ground stop order for all airports across the country... this development resulted in the cancellation of thousands of flights, impacting 1.5 million passengers.
However, the alert was lifted after several hours at US airports.
Trump, the President of the US, emphasized that outdated equipment may be to blame for the disruption at US airports.
The agency's official justification cites "extraordinary circumstances" and "safety reasons," phrasing that triggers intense concern and a host of scenarios regarding what is currently happening in American airspace, in a move reminiscent of the darkest moments in modern aviation history.
Initial reports point to radio communication issues affecting air traffic control facilities.
The last comparable nationwide suspension of flights occurred on January 11, 2023, when a severe outage in the Federal Aviation Administration's information systems disrupted thousands of flights.
Prior to that, the most infamous nationwide grounding of aircraft took place on September 11, 2001.
Aircraft already airborne are not automatically required to land.
The order primarily concerns preventing new takeoffs.
Trump: Outdated equipment may be to blame for the disruption at US airports; it was not a cyberattack or artificial intelligence
In an interview with Fox News, US President Trump identified a potential cause for the disruption at US airports.
He suggested that the flight delays could be due to outdated equipment.
"It looks like a situation where we are dealing with a bunch of old, broken stuff in the infrastructure that the Federal Aviation Administration relies on," Trump said.
The President of the US does not believe that the grounding of American flights was caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence.
Trump explained that if someone had carried out such a large-scale attack on critical infrastructure, they would have already claimed responsibility.
Earlier, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced takeoff and landing restrictions at all airports nationwide.
The measures were imposed due to "extraordinary circumstances" and "safety concerns."
The incident affected thousands of flights and over 1.5 million passengers.
US Secretary of Homeland Security: We detected instability in our communication and radar centers and towers across the US
Flights from US airports were suspended due to instability in radar and communication systems across the country, the US Secretary of Transportation stated.
"At 3:36 p.m., we detected instability in our communication and radar centers and towers across the country," he stated at a press conference at the White House.
According to the official, radar information began to be inconsistent, although neither communications nor radar capabilities were completely lost.
"We have unbelievably outdated air traffic control systems," the Secretary stated grimly.
Emergency restrictions on departures took effect at 3:53 p.m. local time and lasted until 8:19 p.m. International flight arrivals were handled on a case-by-case basis.
The press office of aviation analytics firm Cirium stated that the breakdown affected 1.5 million passengers.
Additionally, according to FlightAware, following the resumption of flights, 8,500 flights were delayed and more than 6,700 were canceled.
This is the second similar incident in US history since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
The FAA last imposed a ban on domestic flights in January 2023, though the restrictions lasted less than two hours.
"Until further notice" all aircraft grounded
At the same time, management is also dramatic for aircraft already airborne en route to the US.
As the directive states, incoming international flights will be handled "on a case-by-case basis," foreshadowing a wave of diversions, emergency landings, and unprecedented hardship for hundreds of thousands of passengers across the globe.
Notably, air traffic controllers are unable to communicate properly with aircraft, while air traffic controllers in Canada are reportedly informing pilots that the grounding of flights in the US is due to an outage in FAA radio communications.
??? THE FAA JUST ORDERED AIRCRAFT ACROSS AMERICA TO STAY ON THE GROUND, CITING “EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES.” That's the actual language being circulated from the Federal Aviation Command Center. “Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” All departing aircraft are instructed to remain grounded until further notice, with incoming international flights handled case by case. You don't ground an entire country's departing aircraft without a serious reason. And right now, nobody has publicly explained exactly what went wrong. Writer: Oliver
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 13, 2026
In any case, the news was broadcast as breaking news by international networks, while further official announcements are awaited to shed light on the exact causes of the sudden "paralysis" of American airports.
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