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All flights in the U.S. were grounded on Friday (November 13, 2026), sparking travel chaos across the vast country, after what government officials said was a major communications outage, insisting it was not the result of any \u201cnefarious attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nationwide stop left tens of thousands of passengers in limbo, with some pulled off planes moments before departure by airline staff who appeared in the dark about unfolding events.<\/p>\n
The incident marked only the second time such an alert was given in U.S. airspace since the 9\/11 attacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo supposedly, nobody\u2019s flying, but they haven\u2019t told the public yet,\u201d said an exasperated Joseph Anderson, 72, who was trying to fly from Las Vegas to Oakland, California.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Federal Aviation Administration \u201cissued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centres,\u201d the agency said. \u201cFAA technicians are investigating the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a subsequent message on X, the agency described the problem as \u201ca temporary telecommunications outage\u201d and said it was acting \u201cout of an abundance of caution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a threat to the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis isn\u2019t another 9\/11,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious attack against us, it\u2019s just a telecommunication outage, as of right now,\u201d Mr. Mullin said, adding officials were \u201cnot ruling out anything at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a short nationwide stop in January 2023 when a pilot notification system failed, but the only other national stop happened in the wake of the 9\/11 attacks, when no aircraft took to the skies for days.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s (November 13, 2026) FAA order came a day after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally asked Congress for $30 billion to upgrade and modernise the U.S. Air Traffic Control System.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis investment is critical to complete the modernization of our national airspace \u2014 delivering a resilient telecommunications backbone for air traffic controllers, modern hardware and software, state-of-the-art control towers, and world-class airport infrastructure,\u201d Mr. Duffy and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought wrote in a letter to lawmakers.<\/p>\n
It also came the same day that Microsoft apologised for a global outage that wreaked havoc for millions of users, public services and businesses worldwide.<\/p>\n
The company ruled out any malicious \u201ccyber or AI\u201d activity as the cause of the disruption, which affected several Microsoft products from Thursday. Most operations had resumed by late Friday (November 14, 2026).<\/p>\n
At New York\u2019s LaGuardia Airport, Tiara Johnson said she had been trying to get to Orlando for a concert with a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just keep delaying it… So it started out at 7:55. Then it went to 8:30, 9:30. Now it\u2019s at 10:30. So we don\u2019t know when it\u2019s gonna leave,\u201d she told AFP<\/i>.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel very frustrated because you know, you come to the airport and then all of a sudden your whole plans have changed and you don\u2019t know when you\u2019re leaving, We\u2019re kind of stuck.\u201d<\/p>\n
At Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, airline staff gave conflicting information about the length of the ground stop, with one suggesting eight hours and another saying it could be 24.<\/p>\n
Travellers 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.<\/p>\n
Boards at the airport continued to show departures leaving as normal, while mobile boarding passes held by those stuck on the ground appeared to show their flight on its way.<\/p>\n
Stranded passengers were scrambling to find alternatives, with long lines forming at rental car counters at the airport in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
Susan Sardina said she had boarded her flight back to Orange County, California when staff told passengers there was a problem.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were already on our flight to leave and we were told to get off,\u201d she told AFP <\/i>as she stood in a lengthy queue for a rental car.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n