US halts all domestic flight departures after an air traffic communications failure

What happened

On Friday, 13 November, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide halt to departures from US airports, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety reasons. The agency said all departing traffic should stay on the ground until further notice, while aircraft already in the air could land. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a communications failure had affected the 22 regional air traffic control centers that guide aircraft between airports, and FAA technicians are investigating. Officials offered no detailed explanation and no timetable for restoring normal traffic.

Cause still under investigation

Donald Trump told Fox News, about three hours after the first reports, that the stoppage did not appear to be caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there were no signs so far of a malicious attack, but he did not rule out any scenario, including a cyberattack. According to Bloomberg, the FBI believes the problem was not a criminal act or cyberattack, and a software update is one line of inquiry, a point Reuters also reported. CBS News said an update to a communications network run by L3Harris Technologies, which links air traffic control systems, may have caused a system restart. The Wall Street Journal said the outage could involve the radio frequencies controllers use to talk with pilots, though it was unclear whether radar was also affected.

Speaking outside the White House, Mullin rejected comparisons with the September 11 attacks:

“I think that's what a lot of people are trying to make the comparison to, and that's not the case.”

Artificial intelligence system ruled out

In the days before the stoppage, the FAA had begun using an AI-based software tool called SMART as part of an overhaul of its air traffic control system, according to The New York Times. Air Space Intelligence, the company that developed the tool, said the current ground stop was neither based on nor the result of SMART, any of its products, or its integration with the FAA and air traffic control. Mullin also denied reports that the problem was linked to the new system. SMART runs from a single site near Washington, D.C., where specialists review flight schedules, weather forecasts and other data before sending recommendations to FAA command.

Flights, cancellations and Portuguese travelers

FlightRadar24 counted more than 2,400 cancelled flights in reports published early on 14 November, a figure that was still rising, with about 700 flights still airborne. Chicago recorded 308 cancellations, LaGuardia 253, Atlanta 247, Dallas 214 and JFK 189. FlightAware reported nearly 10,000 delayed and nearly 5,000 cancelled flights by midnight in Portugal on 14 November, which is 19:00 in New York. Eurocontrol said that at the FAA's request, departures from its member states to US airports were suspended until 5 a.m.

Chicago308

LaGuardia (New York)253

Atlanta247

Dallas214

JFK (New York)189

Chicago

308 flights

LaGuardia (New York)

253 flights

Atlanta

247 flights

Dallas

214 flights

JFK (New York)

189 flights

Data from the article text

TAP said its flights to the United States had guaranteed flight safety and were authorized to land at their destination airports. Six TAP flights had left on Thursday, 12 November, for Miami, Newark, JFK, Boston, Washington and San Francisco, and one of them had already landed in San Francisco, according to SAPO. A Portuguese passenger stranded at Las Vegas airport told SIC that her flight to Newark and Porto, scheduled for 23:30 Lisbon time, was cancelled, and that passengers had no official information while the United app showed a gate that does not exist. A group of Portuguese travelers at Pittsburgh airport were told their flight to Lisbon would in principle be cancelled, according to Correio da Manha.

Outlook

Observador noted that this is the second time since 11 September that all domestic flights in the United States have been suspended. The FAA manages an average of more than 45,000 flights a day, serving about 2.9 million airline passengers. Mullin acknowledged outside the White House that a fix was not imminent. Flights already airborne were allowed to land, while the FAA reviews international flights case by case.