For the First Time Since September 11, 2001: US Halts Departures at All Airports

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted air traffic at all airports in the United States, a rare decision attributed to "exceptional circumstances" and "safety reasons."

A statement from FAA air traffic control on Friday said that "all departing aircraft must remain grounded until further notice."

The statement clarified that "incoming international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis."

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that the decision was made due to a "communications problem," noting that the issue affected all air traffic control centers in the country.

In a tweet on the platform X, the Secretary pledged to follow up on the matter, stating that technical specialists at the FAA are investigating the problem.

A cascading frequency outage is known as a sequential failure in wireless communication systems used by pilots and air traffic controllers to communicate with each other.

When the outage is "cascading," the loss of radio frequencies spreads sequentially through various air traffic control centers and facilities, rather than occurring at a single isolated location.

Thousands of flights affected

The website FlightAware reported that nearly 7,000 flights in the United States were delayed or canceled due to the nationwide halt in departures.

Data from FlightRadar24 indicated that 3,100 planes were en route to US airports amid a complete stoppage of domestic flights. No additional planes are taking off at this time.

The New York Times reported that passengers waiting for departure at US airports remained stranded in an unstable situation.

The newspaper said that at Denver International Airport in Colorado, one of the largest airports in America and the world, passengers were deplaned with their luggage, and a few began rebooking flights for the next day.

CNN quoted law enforcement sources saying initial reports indicate that the suspension of air traffic is not a cyberattack.

This decision is among the rare measures affecting air traffic across all of America, as limited or partial suspensions are usually implemented, while halting all departures from US airports represents an exceptional step.

Fox News reported that takeoff operations stopped throughout the United States as a result of the decision, describing the measure as an exceptional step taken only once since the events of September 11, 2001.

Before issuing its order to halt plane takeoffs nationwide, the FAA reported serious problems with air traffic control communications, according to Fox News.

Shortly before the national announcement, the agency suspended air traffic specifically in Chicago due to air traffic control communication issues, before the scope of the decision expanded to cover the entire country.