Nationwide FAA ground stop halts flights; old telecom equipment blamed, not cyberattack

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a rare nationwide ground stop for all airports on Friday, halting flights for more than four hours and stranding passengers from coast to coast. The agency lifted the order after 8 p.m. ET, but cancellations and delays continued into the weekend. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a contractor, L3Harris, was replacing old copper lines with fiber-optic cable at a remote FAA facility when a new router began flooding the agency's telecommunications network. That caused radar and radio instability, and officials ordered the stop as a precaution. Duffy and FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said investigators found no evidence of a cyberattack. L3Harris said it is supporting the FAA's investigation and that more than 70% of the planned conversion to fiber had been completed. Duffy said he will ask Congress for funding, including reported requests of $50 billion in emergency money, to upgrade telecommunications, runways and control towers. Bedford said airlines expect full schedule integrity by the close of business Sunday. Aviation experts warned recovery could take at least 48 hours because aircraft, crews and passengers must be repositioned.