Flights grounded at three US airports as watchdog flags aviation hacking risks
A radio equipment failure halted flights at three northeastern US airports on Monday, coinciding with a government report warning of serious cybersecurity gaps in air traffic communication systems.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop at about 10am on Monday affecting Newark Liberty International, Philadelphia International and Teterboro airports after some radio frequencies at the Philadelphia terminal radar approach control (Tracon) were disrupted. The issue lasted into the early afternoon, delaying both arrivals and departures at Newark. The FAA has not disclosed what caused the outage.
The disruption coincided with the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finding that the FAA has not completed risk assessments or updated security documentation addressing threats such as spoofing and jamming of radio communications used to guide aircraft. The report also noted the FAA lacks a real-time detection system for such threats, meaning incidents can generally only be investigated after the fact.
Investigators warned that hackers could transmit fraudulent messages to aircraft, including false flight clearance cancellations, potentially causing delays, disrupting airspace or creating safety hazards. Two text-messaging systems used to communicate with aircraft predate modern cybersecurity standards and lack basic protections such as encryption, the report found.
Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, a longtime advocate on privacy and cybersecurity issues, called the findings a "major threat" to national security, the economy and passenger safety, urging the FAA to quickly adopt new communication security standards.
The GAO issued nine recommendations, including formal risk assessments for seven of eight systems reviewed and continuous monitoring for interference and jamming. The Department of Transportation, responding on behalf of the FAA, agreed with all nine recommendations.
Monday's incident adds to a string of problems at Newark; in April 2025, a roughly minute-long outage blanked controllers' screens and cut contact with aircraft, prompting a halt to departures. The FAA handles more than 44,000 flights and about 3 million passengers daily. The GAO report also cited incidents abroad, noting Estonia and Finland have accused Russia of interfering with satellite navigation in their airspace, allegations Moscow denies.
