On November 13, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a nationwide ban on aircraft departures due to a large-scale outage in the telecommunications systems that support air traffic control centers.

What exactly happened?

🔹 The problem first occurred in Chicago, at O'Hare and Midway airports. Due to technical malfunctions and communication problems, the FAA suspended local air traffic.

🔹 It later emerged that the outage affected all 22 regional air traffic control centers in the United States. They coordinate flights between the country’s airports.

🔹 U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed that the communications issue affected all air traffic control centers. FAA technical specialists began an investigation.

🔹 The FAA announced a Nationwide Ground Stop—a temporary ban on departures from U.S. airports. Aircraft already in the air were allowed to land. International flights were handled on a case-by-case basis.

How long will the restrictions remain in effect?

Initially, the FAA did not set an exact time for the ban to end. According to U.S. media reports, the restrictions were scheduled to last until 11:00 p.m. on November 13 Eastern Time (6:00 a.m. on November 14 in Kyiv). However, they could be extended depending on how quickly the systems were restored.

Was this a cyberattack?

So far, there is no confirmation of deliberate interference. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that at the time there were no signs of a malicious attack. The cause of the technical failure was still being investigated.

This is the second nationwide suspension of departures in the United States since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The previous one occurred in January 2023 because of an outage in the NOTAM system.

The incident shows how critical the reliability of digital and telecommunications infrastructure is. A physical disaster or cyberattack is not necessary to bring air travel across an entire country to a halt—a serious failure in a system responsible for coordinating flights is enough.

#USA #AviationNews #Technology #CyberSecurity #Infrastructure