US aviation regulators issued an extremely rare ground stop of all flights across the country Friday after a major communications outage which the Department of Homeland Security said did not appear to be the result of any "nefarious attack."
The halt triggered immediate chaos and confusion for travelers, with departure boards at many airports showing flights were operating normally, even as customers were unable to board planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration "issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers," the agency said. "FAA technicians are investigating the issue."
In a subsequent message on X, the agency described the problem as "a temporary telecommunications outage" and said it was acting "out of an abundance of caution."
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a threat to the United States and "this isn't another 9/11."
"There was no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious attack against us, it's just a telecommunication outage, as of right now," Mullins said, adding officials were "not ruling out anything at this point."
The FAA has announced similar orders in recent years on individual airlines due to communications issues, usually lasting a couple of hours or less. Systemwide groundings nationwide are far less common.
In January 2023, the FAA called a nationwide ground stop due to problems with the Notice to Air Missions system (NOTAM), which provides information to pilots about hazards and information that can affect flights.
That outage lasted just under two hours, and was thought at the time to be the first nationwide grounding since 9/11.
Friday's FAA order came a day after US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally asked Congress for $30.1 billion in funds to upgrade and modernize the US Air Traffic Control System.
"This investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace -- delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure," Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter to lawmakers.
At Las Vegas airport, the Southwest Airlines check-in desk told passengers there could be no flights taking off for the night.
Check-in staff at one desk said they had been told the ground stop would last at least eight hours, with one member of airline personnel saying it would be 24 hours.
Travelers were left in the dark, with some saying they had been told their flight was delayed because of wind, while others were left to gather what information they could.
"So supposedly, nobody's flying, but they haven't told the public yet," said an exasperated Joseph Anderson, 72, who was trying to fly from Las Vegas to Oakland, California.
"We're trying to debate whether or not we need to reschedule or drive or what, but if the whole country is stopped, that means the highways are going to be jammed too.
"We can't get our luggage, so we kind of stuck," added the retired Air Force veteran.
"I would hope the communication can be better from the from the FAA in the next hour or so."
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