WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an immediate, nationwide ground stop across all United States airports following a widespread equipment outage affecting nearly all air traffic control facilities.
Under the directive, which remains in effect until further notice, no flights are permitted to depart for U.S. airports, and all departures from any airport bound for U.S. airspace have been halted.
Air traffic control centers across the country are actively “sterilizing” the airspace (clearing it of new departures) as facilities prepare to transition to “ATC Zero” operations, a rare emergency status indicating that an air traffic control facility is unable to safely provide standard separation services.
Despite the sweeping departure ban, aircraft currently airborne are being permitted to continue along their filed flight plans and land safely at their destinations. Under ATC Zero protocols, aircraft already in affected airspace maintain their last assigned clearance (including trajectory, altitude, airspeed, and heading) while using visual flight rules (VFR) and pilot-to-pilot communication to maintain safe separation if ground communications are degraded.
Travelers with upcoming flights are advised to check directly with their airlines for delay and cancellation updates, as cascading schedule disruptions are expected across domestic and international routes once normal operations resume.
This is a developing story and will be updated as the FAA releases more information regarding the cause of the outage and a timeline for restoration.
UPDATE #1
Widespread ATC frequency issues confirmed.
UPDATE #2
Approximately 3,115 aircraft are currently en route to airports across the United States, even as the FAA’s nationwide ground stop remains in effect according to AirNav Radar.
UPDATE #3
The FAA says: There has been a temporary telecommunications outage – out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis.
UPDATE #4
Some international flights are departing BOS, LAX, JFK, IAD…
