America’s Skies Brought To A Halt: Flights Grounded Nationwide In Rare Emergency Since 9/11

An airplane flies past the air traffic control tower.

In a move seen only once before since the 11 September 2001 attacks, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered a nationwide ground stop, bringing flight departures across the country to a halt. The agency said all departing aircraft had been instructed to remain on the ground until further notice, citing "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety".

The FAA said the ground stop had been imposed across all US airports because of "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety". The agency and the White House said the disruption appeared to have been caused by a telecommunications outage.

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

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication that the outage was the result of a national security threat, although officials were not ruling out any possible cause, including a cyberattack.

"There is no indication that we've had, no reason to…

Original source: https://www.timesnownews.com/latest-news