'All-stop' flight suspension across the U.S.... “Control and communication system failure” (Comprehensive 2nd report)

At airports across the United States, aircraft operations were completely halted starting around 4 p.m. on the 13th (Eastern time) due to a presumed failure of the control and communication system.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that "aircraft takeoffs have been suspended at all airports" citing "unusual circumstances and safety reasons."

The FAA announced that “all departing flights must remain suspended (on the ground) until further notice,” and that landings for international flights entering the United States will be managed on a case-by-case basis.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on social media that "FAA technicians are investigating the issue," citing a "communications issue affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCCs)."

According to law enforcement officials, initial findings indicate that a cyberattack was not the cause of the incident, CNN reported. A source told CBS that it has to do with "radio frequencies and the way pilots communicate."

“So far, there has been no indication that this is a malicious attack targeting us,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen said at a briefing. “At this point, it is simply a communications failure.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also does not believe that the communications problem that affected air traffic control was caused by a cyber attack or criminal activity, and is investigating whether the system failure was caused by a software update, Bloomberg reported.

According to a flight tracking site cited by CBS, there were about 3,100 aircraft heading to airports in the United States at the time of the FAA's suspension of operations. In addition, 30,000 aircraft were scheduled to take off from U.S. airports during the day after the takeoff stop time.

As of 5 p.m., more than 8,000 flights were delayed in the U.S., and about 400 flights were canceled. The New York Times reported that passengers were getting off the plane and leaving the airport at hub airports in major cities such as Chicago and Denver.

Minister Mullen predicted that "it will take some time" for the air traffic control communication issues to be resolved and flight operations to return to normal.

The last time the FAA implemented a nationwide flight suspension was on January 11, 2023. At the time, thousands of airplane takeoffs and landings were delayed when contractor employees accidentally deleted files related to the warning system used to communicate with pilots.

Prior to this, the nationwide suspension of flight operations occurred in 2001, when the '9/11 terrorist attacks' occurred.