Nationwide ground stop halts all US flights after air traffic control system failure

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports on Friday afternoon, citing 'extraordinary circumstances' impacting air traffic control communication systems nationwide. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy confirmed the issue affects 'all Air Route Traffic Control Centers,' with FAA technicians actively investigating the cause while all departing flights remain grounded.

This unprecedented system-wide failure paralyzes the entire U.S. air transportation network, with inbound international flights being handled on a case-by-case basis. The disruption began with localized issues in Chicago before escalating to a national scale, creating massive travel chaos and raising urgent questions about the resilience of critical aviation infrastructure and whether this represents a technical failure or potential cyberattack.