WASHINGTON — Friday’s nationwide ground stop began when a contractor replacing a router at a remote FAA site set off a cascade that overloaded the air traffic communications network, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Saturday, CBS News reported.
Duffy said a preliminary investigation found that an L3Harris contractor was switching old copper wire to fiber while replacing a router. The router then began flooding other routers with about 1,000 log-on attempts every four to five seconds. He said the FAA is trying to determine whether it was human error or a faulty router.
“What we have is an incredibly old air traffic control system,” Duffy said. L3Harris said it is supporting the FAA’s investigation and takes the ground stop and “its impact” seriously.
The FAA ordered the stop at 3:36 p.m. Eastern time with about 3,500 planes in the air. All landed safely. It was the first nationwide ground stop since a computer failure in January 2023.
FlightAware counted about 9,159 canceled flights Friday and more than 5,000 Saturday. Departures from Phoenix Sky Harbor and other Arizona airports sat grounded for hours, and the disruption forced Arizona State’s football team to fly to Orlando the morning of its game.
“I do think the worst is behind us,” FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said, adding that operations should be back to normal by Sunday night.
Travelers should check flight status with their airline before heading to the airport, since airlines warned of more delays while they reposition planes and crews.
Sources: CBS News, NPR. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of 17 U.S.C. § 105 / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
