From WIRED · Aarian Marshall · · 1m 50s
FAA ground stop: five hours, 6,300 flights canceled
A failure in the FAA's aging communications network grounded all US flights for five hours on Friday, disrupting thousands of aircraft and prompting calls for billions more in modernization funding.
In brief
A failure in the FAA's aging communications network grounded all US flights for five hours on Friday, disrupting thousands of aircraft and prompting calls for billions more in modernization funding. A communications system failure grounded all US flights for five hours Friday, canceling over six thousand three hundred…
Communications system failure grounds all US flights
Instability in the FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure network caused the country's most disastrous nationwide ground stop in air traffic since September eleven. The ground stop lasted five hours.
Modernization project mixing old and new systems
The FAA Telecommunications Infrastructure is undergoing a major multiyear modernization replacing decades-old copper wire with high-speed fiber-optic cables. The system is meant to reduce outages and handle newer aircraft including drones and eVTOLs.
Over six thousand flights canceled and delayed
When the ground stop lifted Friday evening, over six thousand three hundred flights within, into, or out of the US had been canceled, according to FlightAware. Nine thousand five hundred had been delayed.
Old equipment overwhelmed by new technology
US Department of Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin said the issue was caused by putting patches into the system as new equipment was installed. The new technology was overwhelming the older system, he said.
“The new technology was overwhelming the older system.”
No cyberattack but uncertainty remains
Markwayne Mullin said there were no indications the outage was related to a cyberattack, but there is not complete certainty right now. US transportation secretary Sean Duffy blamed old switches, old routers, and data overload.
Duffy doubles funding request to fifty billion dollars
Sean Duffy sent a letter to congressional leaders Friday asking for thirty point one billion dollars to upgrade air traffic control. During a White House briefing Friday, he increased the request to fifty billion dollars.
“I want $50 billion.”
Here's the gist
A communications system failure grounded all US flights for five hours Friday, canceling over six thousand three hundred flights and delaying nine thousand five hundred, exposing risks in aging infrastructure undergoing modernization.
