FAA Ground Stop Audio Briefing: Every US Flight Halted After Communications Outage

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday afternoon, halting every departing flight in the United States after a telecommunications outage hit all 22 air route traffic control centres. This briefing covers the order, the scale of the disruption — more than 10,000 flights delayed and 2,500 cancelled — what officials say about the cause, and when flights may resume.

It is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, and only the second since the September 11 attacks. For more on major infrastructure outages, listen to our earlier briefing on the global Microsoft outage, and follow live developments at News Plus Globe Live.