Communication abnormalities in the U.S. air traffic control system caused the grounding of flights across the country. Although the FAA has lifted the ban, the problem of old equipment and data overload has once again highlighted the urgent need for a comprehensive update of the U.S. air traffic control system. The picture shows that multiple American Airlines flights stopped at the boarding gate at New York's LaGuardia Airport on the 13th, and ground aircraft were also affected. (AFP)
Flights across the United States were forced to stop taking off on the 13th due to communication abnormalities in the air traffic control system. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed out that old air traffic control equipment cannot handle a large amount of data, and inconsistent data transmission occurs after routers are overloaded. Therefore, the authorities ordered the suspension of flight takeoffs based on flight safety considerations.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that the problem involves the mixing of old and new technologies. When some new technologies are introduced into old systems, the system is overloaded. Officials are still investigating the cause of the failure and have not confirmed the complete cause.
CNN reported that Duffy described the U.S. air traffic control system as quite old, with some routers overloaded by excessive amounts of data and beginning to experience data inconsistencies. Since the regional air traffic control center is responsible for managing aircraft flight routes between airports, communication abnormalities may affect air traffic control personnel's ability to obtain aircraft information, so the authorities decided to stop flight takeoffs first.
Duffy called on Congress to provide emergency funding to increase the air traffic control system refurbishment budget to $50 billion to update hardware, software and telecommunications equipment. He said the government had previously requested more than $30 billion, but existing funding was still insufficient to complete a comprehensive update.
Mullin emphasized that there is currently no indication that the communication failure was related to a cyberattack, and there is no evidence linking the incident to this week's Microsoft service outage. The U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA have previously proposed an air traffic control system update plan, with the goal of building a new system by 2028.
The lifting of the grounding order remains chaotic, with at least 600 flights diverted
Although the nationwide grounding order has been lifted, aviation operations cannot immediately return to normal. The Associated Press reported that at least 600 flights were diverted to other airports during the grounding, with some returning to their original departure airports and others being forced to land at other locations.
At that time, US airports were scheduled to take off about 11,000 flights after the suspension order was issued, involving more than 1.5 million passengers. After the grounding order is lifted, airlines still have to rearrange aircraft and crews, and flight delays and cancellations are expected to continue.
Duffy pointed out that there were about 3,500 aircraft in the air when the grounding order was issued, and less than 400 aircraft were left in the airspace later. It will still take time for air traffic to return to normal. He said the authorities would work with airlines to prioritize flights with more passengers and resume operations that night if possible.
The grounding also affects air cargo and professional sports event traffic. The Associated Press pointed out that some NBA, NHL and college football teams were stranded due to the grounding of flights, affecting weekend game schedules.
