Passengers make video inside the plane during flight suspension in the USA: 'We can't take off'

Passengers affected by the suspension of flights in the United States, this Friday (13), recorded reports and posted them on social media. Two of them were inside aircraft that were about to take off when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued the order that halted takeoffs and landings.

A woman claims to be inside the plane at the Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida.

"We were about to take off when the pilot said: 'We can't take off. All flights have been suspended," he said.

Another man on a flight leaving Palm Beach airport, also in Florida, also registered the suspension.

"Our plane was about to take off but stopped," he said.

Another man claims to be on an aircraft in the air during the suspension.

"Finding out that all flights in the United States have been suspended while my plane is literally in the air right now. Should I be worried?" he asked in a video.

The suspension

The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered this Friday (13) the suspension of all takeoffs in the country following a communication problem affecting air traffic control centers.

The American press stated that there is no evidence of a cyber attack. TV Globo learned from a source who works in a control tower at a New York airport that the problem is related to a crossing of radio frequencies.

As a result, more than one aircraft can transmit messages at the same time on the same frequency, which makes communication with controllers difficult.

In practice, professionals cannot clearly identify which plane is talking to the tower.

The FAA has not yet given an estimate of when the nationwide suspension of takeoffs in the United States will end.

The FAA said the suspension was determined by extraordinary circumstances and safety reasons. With the measure, aircraft that are on the ground cannot take off. According to data from the monitoring website FlightAware, almost 7,000 flights in the US were delayed or canceled.

United States Secretary of Transport, Sean Duffy, stated that the failure affects all control centers responsible for traffic on the country's air routes. FAA technicians are investigating the problem, he said.

The agency also warned of the possibility that planes that are already in the air may have to remain flying in circles while awaiting authorization to land, due to equipment failures.

The episode occurs amid a series of problems in the United States' air traffic control system, which is facing equipment failures, communication problems and a lack of controllers.

The government is trying to modernize the structure, which is aging. Last year, Congress approved $12.5 billion to reform the system. This Friday (13), the FAA and the White House asked parliamentarians for an additional US$30.1 billion to resolve other problems.

2nd time since 9/11

This is the second time that the FAA has ordered a nationwide suspension of all takeoffs since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The other occurred on January 11, 2023, when a failure in the agency's aeronautical information system caused a stoppage of less than two hours.

At the time, more than 1,300 flights were canceled and almost 10,000 were delayed throughout the day.