US grounds flights nationwide after air traffic control communications outage

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Aviation Administration grounded all departing flights nationwide on Friday after a communications failure hit air traffic control centers across the country, disrupting thousands of flights.

The announcement means planes in the air may land, but those on the ground cannot take off. Flight tracking service FlightAware said nearly 7,000 flights ⁠were delayed or ⁠canceled due to the nationwide ground stop.

“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all US airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Transportation ⁠Secretary Sean Duffy said.