US: Halt takeoffs of all flights due to communication issue
The Transport Secretary announces a halt to takeoffs due to a communication problem affecting monitoring.
Translated by Qiyas from القبس — Original source
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the suspension of all departures from U.S. airports due to a communications issue. He added in statements today that the communications problem affected all air traffic control centers along airways across the country. Reuters had previously reported that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) decided to halt flights at all U.S. airports due to exceptional circumstances and safety concerns. The agency ordered the suspension of all departures from every U.S. airport, emphasizing that all departing flights must remain on the ground until further notice.
Flights forced to wait: Fox News reported that the FAA said incoming flights to the United States may have to hold in the air before landing at any airport due to equipment failures. For its part, Air Space Intelligence, a company that collaborates with the FAA to develop artificial intelligence, stated that its software did not cause the suspension of departures. Officials also told NBC that there is no indication of a link between the FAA incident and the outage affecting Microsoft.
The New York Times, citing Flightradar24, reported that authorities allowed some international flights to depart from the United States despite the nationwide departure suspension. The Washington Post reported that, by approximately 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the number of delayed flights in the United States neared 10,000, while the number of canceled flights exceeded 900, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking website. The decision to halt flights caused confusion in airports and in the skies.
Suspension of flights from Europe: Reuters reported that the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation suspended its flights to the United States at the request of the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The New York Times also cited the Mexican Federal Aviation Agency, stating that the U.S. FAA requested that no flights take off to the United States.
Canada offers assistance: The Canadian Minister of Transport said his country offered full assistance to the U.S. aviation authority, including accepting aircraft if needed.
Additionally, the New York Times, citing FlightAware, reported that the number of canceled flights in the United States surpassed 3,000, amid a rapid increase in cancellations. The newspaper also noted, quoting U.S. officials, that there are currently no indications that the outage resulted from a malicious cyberattack. In the same vein, Reuters reported that the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation suspended its flights bound for the United States, following a request from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.
Meanwhile, CNN cited a security source stating that authorities still believe the problem stems from a communications software glitch rather than deliberate action.
Trump denies cyberattack: U.S. President Donald Trump told Fox News that the flight suspension in the United States does not appear to be the result of a cyberattack or artificial intelligence. This comes as FlightAware confirmed that more than 10,000 flights were delayed today within the United States.
