Work to replace old wire caused air traffic control issue that grounded flights: White House
Officials said overloaded routers in antiquated air traffic control equipment caused more than 4,000 flight cancellations and delays across the system.
- On Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration grounded planes for over four hours—the longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years—after new technology overloaded antiquated air traffic control equipment, causing "intermittent" communications and radar gaps.
- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a contractor replacing copper wires with fiber optic lines caused the system overload; he and the White House are pushing for $30 billion more to complete critical infrastructure upgrades.
- The stoppage affected about a quarter of 45,000 daily U.S. flights, with more than 4,100 cancellations. Aviation consultant Andrew Charlton said the "knock-on effect" of the disruption is incredible.
- FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Saturday that U.S. air travel should be fully recovered by the end of tomorrow, though flights will still experience delays and cancellations throughout the day.
- Modernizing active aviation systems is "incredibly complex and dangerous," aviation consultant Andrew Charlton warned, as officials investigate potential contractor "incompetence" while aging equipment remains a long-term concern.
236 Articles
236 Articles
Failures in communication systems caused suspension of flights in the United States; Sean Duffy dismisses a cyber attack.
The air chaos that the U.S. experienced this Friday and that is prolonging throughout the weekend was due, according to the authorities of the Trump administration, to a change of copper cables to fiber optics in an outdated control facility. That was the trigger of a halt of all flights for more than four hours that caused a 'black Friday' in the aviation of the world's first power: tens of thousands of flights cancelled, many more with delays …
Up to 5,000 flights expected to be canceled Saturday as airlines work to restore normal operations
Work to replace old copper wire led to the FAA’s ground stop
At a press conference today, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that Friday's nationwide ground stop ordered by the FAA was related to work replacing outdated copper wire with a fiber optic line at a "remote FAA facility." The secretary said that this was "routine maintenance," rather than the result of a major modernization effort. He […]
U.S. aviation officials rule out cyberattacks
More than 4,000 scheduled flights have been canceled on Saturday due to the flight shutdown. The Minister of Transport cites the replacement of a cable as the reason.
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