The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide halt to flight departures on Friday afternoon after communication problems affected air traffic control centres.
The agency cited safety concerns in its order.The order kept aircraft on the ground until further notice. Flights already in the air could still land, while the FAA said it would handle incoming international flights case by case.
The agency had halted traffic in Chicago shortly before extending the order nationwide, Reuters reported.U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the problem affected regional centres that guide aircraft between airports across the country.
He said FAA technicians were investigating. Officials did not immediately say what caused the communication problem or when departures would resume.
It was the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023, when a malfunction in an FAA computer system forced the agency to pause domestic departures for less than two hours.
