New AI traffic control system is ‘being looked at’ as possible cause of airport ground stop: Live updates

“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 p.m. ET Friday.

The federal agency said on social media that there has been a temporary telecommunications outage.

All flights have been accounted for and international flights will be “handled on a case by case basis,” the agency said.

This weekend’s college football slate has been thrown into chaos after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prevented takeoffs at all airports across the country.

According to reports from The Athletic and ESPN’s Pete Thamel, 15 FBS football programs have been affected by this issue and have yet to take off for their away games.

This includes four teams in the top-25: No. 2 Utah, No. 6 Texas, No. 8 Tennessee, and No. 19 Mississippi.

Other Power Four schools affected include Arizona State, Baylor, Auburn, Kansas State, Purdue, Washington and Minnesota. Non-Power Four schools impacted include Tulane, Oregon State, Wyoming and North Texas.

Both airlines said in statements on X that flights already in the air will continue.

United Airlines said while domestic flights will not depart, “international departures are being managed on a case-by-case basis by the FAA.”

American Airlines said it expects disruptions for the rest of the day.

“It will be all hands on deck across American to get customers on their way as soon as possible when the FAA lifts this nationwide ground stop,” the airline said.

Friday’s FAA order came a day after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally asked Congress for $30.1 billion in funds to upgrade and modernize the US Air Traffic Control System.

“This investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace — delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure,” Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter to lawmakers.

Mullin said it’s not yet known what caused the communications outages, but “we’re gonna find out what happened.”

He added that he’s not going to make assumptions and encouraged others to do the same.

Asked if there may be a connection to Thursday’s Microsoft outage, Mullin said officials are not ruling anything out.

Officials are dealing with midair flights on a case by case basis and working to help them land safely, he added.

“There is no indication — and we had no reason to believe that — as of right now, that this was a threat to the United States,” Mullin said.

“This was a telecommunication outage,” Mullin told reporters outside the White House.

He said details were still emerging, but that the president had been briefed.

Mullin said the immediate priority was ensuring that planes still in the air would be landing safely, but that there was no clear information on how long the stoppage might last.

He also downplayed comparisons to the Sept. 11 attacks of 2001, saying, “This isn’t the same comparison to 9/11. That’s a road I won’t go down.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has halted all flights throughout the US due to a major communications issue that has grounded flyers indefinitely.

The Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) said at 3.54pm ET that the reason for the immediate halting of US flights was: ‘Due to extraordinary circumstances for safety reasons.’

Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights were ⁠delayed or cancelled due to the nationwide ground stop.

While preliminary reports suggest the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, FBI personnel across the country are monitoring the situation, a law enforcement source told CNN.