The FAA ordered departures from U.S. airports to remain grounded after a communications failure disrupted air traffic control centers nationwide. (Foto: Instagram)
President Donald Trump said Friday, Nov. 13, that a nationwide halt to departures at U.S. airports did not appear to have been caused by a cyberattack or artificial intelligence. Neither Trump nor federal agencies had explained the actual cause of the disruption, which followed a communications failure at the country’s air traffic control centers.
Trump made the remarks in a phone interview with Fox News journalist Peter Doocy. The Federal Aviation Administration ordered departures nationwide to remain grounded for safety reasons, citing extraordinary circumstances. The suspension had no announced end time and led to delays and cancellations across thousands of flights.
More than 10,000 flights had been delayed or canceled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware. The disruption also affected international travel planning. The FAA said arriving international flights would be handled individually, while aircraft already in the air had been accounted for.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the government had found no evidence of a cyberattack. He attributed the disruption to a temporary telecommunications failure and said the episode did not pose a threat comparable to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the communications problem affected all U.S. air traffic control centers. He said FAA technicians were investigating and that the agency would share updates when available.
The FAA instructed aircraft scheduled to depart from U.S. airports to stay on the ground until further notice. It also warned that, depending on operational and safety conditions, planes already in flight might have to circle while waiting for permission to land. The agency did not provide a timetable for ending the suspension.
A nationwide grounding of departures is rare in the United States. The previous such incident occurred in January 2023, when a failure in the pilot-notification system led to a halt in departures. Before that, restrictions were imposed after the Sept. 11 attacks.
