FAA issues US-wide ground stops due to rolling frequency outage; over 7,000 flights affected

The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop Friday due to an unprecedented rolling frequency outage, temporarily halting all US flight departures.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday afternoon issued a nationwide ground stop on flights due to a frequency outage with ATC controllers. All departures have been halted until further notice, the FAA said in an alert. Over 7,000 flights have been affected.

A flight information display board shows several flights cancelled at LaGuardia Airport in Queens, New York on August 27. (Representational) (AFP)

"FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a X post. “FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them.”

Journalist Anna Giaritelli shared a FAA release which cited “rolling frequency outage” as the cause of the ground stop. A frequency outage occurs when the radio communication infrastructure that enables pilots to communicate with Air Traffic Control (ATC) controllers fails to function properly. A country-wide failure, at such a large scale, is unprecedented.

However, the flights already in the air will be allowed to land.

Inbound international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis, according to the advisory issued by the Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC).

The notice did not specify the circumstances behind the order, except calling it “extraordinary,” or provide details about when normal flight operations would resume. Reuters reports that at least 7,000 flights have been delayed or canceled due to the ATC controller issues.

The last time the FAA issues a nationwide ground stop was in 2023. It lasted a little less than two hours.

This is a breaking news.