FAA lifts nationwide ground stop after four hours; all flights to resume departures

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has lifted its nationwide ground stop four hours after its initial issuance.

According to the Associated Press, all airplane departures can resume after the agency lifts the nationwide ground stop caused by communications problems.

United States Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said the ground stop was issued due to “old software” that Air Traffic Control Centers used.

Earlier on Friday, the FAA said international flights will also be handled on a case-by-case basis.

What happened earlier today?

On Friday, around 4:15 PM, the FAA issued a ground stop and ordered all aircraft operators and airports to remain ground stopped due to “extraordinary circumstances.”

Boston Logan International Airport issued a statement saying that all flights are grounded

Boston Logan International Airport released a statement saying that the airport is permitting “some transatlantic flights” to depart from the airport.

Governor Maura Healey says that she and her team have been briefed on the incident and are working to get information.

Tom Kinton, former head of Massport, says that a nationwide ground stop is uncommon. He says that the incident was part of “rolling blackouts” from each Air Traffic Control center.

Kinton says that the FAA system is made up of local towers in each airport. Boston Logan has one at the airport, but once a plane takes off from the airport, the plane is “handed off” to another center city-to-city to help guide the aircraft in altitude.

Kinton went on to add that this will be a “major inconvenience” that will likely go on for some time.

Former Massport head speaks with Boston 25 amid nationwide groundstop

“There’s gonna be delays, and these delays are gonna be significant,” Kinton said to Boston 25’s Cayle Thompson. “They’re gonna continue, probably through the weekend, because a number of flights are gonna be out of position; crews are gonna time out. You’re gonna have some flights that’ll go, others are gonna cancel, then they’re gonna have to rebook those passengers into the busiest travel weeks of the year, starting on Sunday.”

AI system says it’s not to blame for ground stop

Recently, the FAA announced that they would be implementing a new AI system called “SMART” (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories) that

According to the FAA, SMART is a “cloud-based platform system that enhances existing FAA air traffic management systems.” This program would aid air traffic control in synthesizing data.

Air Space Intel (ASI), the company behind the program, says that the system is not the reason for the groundstop.

“Not a nefarious attack”

In a press conference Friday afternoon, United States Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said the incident is not being considered a “nefarious attack.”

Nationwide ground stop: DHS Secretary gives update

“There was no indication as of yet this was a nefarious attack against us,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin.

All flights in the air are accounted for, he said during a news conference, adding that the public has no reason to be afraid.

The FAA’s ground stop order runs through at least 11 PM ET Friday; however, there is no definitive time of when flights will be back up in the air.

The last time a nationwide ground stop was issued was January 11, 2023, when officials said that a contractor working for the FAA had “unintentionally deleted files related to a key pilot safety system.”

Prior to that, the only other national ground stop was after the September 11th attacks.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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