US airspace reopens after being closed to traffic for several hours
The US Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday evening that the country's airspace had reopened after takeoffs at all airports were halted over communication problems. The exact cause has not yet been established.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which oversees civil aviation in the country, announced on Friday evening that American airspace was open to traffic again. Earlier in the afternoon, the agency had halted aircraft takeoffs at all US airports, citing communication problems in air traffic control. For several hours, planes across the country were unable to depart.
Thousands of flights were cancelled during that time, and long queues of passengers formed at airports.
Statements by officials
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the airspace was "open again" and blamed the disruption on old equipment. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters that no cyberattack had taken place and that there was no connection between the incident and Microsoft.
The specific cause of Friday's problems has not yet been determined. Media reported that several air traffic control centres had reported communication problems.
Previous case
Since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the FAA had halted air traffic across the entire United States only once, in January 2023. On that occasion, the cause was a fault in the system used to send messages to pilots, and air traffic was restored after a few hours.
