All departing US flights have been grounded after the Federal Aviation Authority issued a nationwide order on Friday, citing “extraordinary circumstance and reasons of safety".
The announcement means flights in the air may land, but flights on the ground cannot take off.
Shortly before the announcement, the FAA halted traffic in Chicago due to air traffic control communications issues. The agency said: “All departing traffic should remain groundstopped until further notice.” The FAA said international flights will be managed on a case-by-case basis.
Friday was the second nationwide ground stop of all departures since the September 11th 2001, attacks. The other happened in January 2023, when the FAA paused all domestic departures for less than two hours.
RM Block
This is a breaking story and will be updated. -Reuters
