🔍 Read the full analysis: FAA Flight Halt At Every US Airport: A Breakdown Of The Unknowns on ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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TL;DR
The FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop on Nov. 13 after officials reported instability affecting radar and communications at air traffic facilities. The stop lasted about four hours and 23 minutes; officials said they had found no evidence of a cyberattack, but had not published a written root-cause report.
The Federal Aviation Administration halted departures at all U.S. airports for about four hours and 23 minutes on Friday, Nov. 13, after officials reported instability affecting radar and communications at air traffic facilities. The nationwide stop began at about 3:53 p.m. Eastern Time and was lifted at about 8:16 p.m.; the cause has not been fully explained in a published root-cause report.
The FAA Command Center’s advisories show the disruption first appearing in Chicago. At 3:21 p.m., the center cited equipment issues in warnings about delays and airborne holding at O’Hare. It stopped departures to O’Hare at 3:28 p.m., citing “EQUIPMENT / OUTAGE” and “COMMS ISSUES,” and issued a similar stop for Midway at 3:31 p.m. At 3:54 p.m., it ordered a nationwide ground stop, saying it was “DUE TO EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCES AND FOR REASONS OF SAFETY.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA experienced instability in radar and communications at en route centers and approach-control facilities. He attributed the problem to older analog telecommunications switches and routers that became overloaded with data and produced inconsistent information. Duffy said the system did not lose all radar or telecommunications. The FAA’s Friday statement described “communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers” and said technicians were investigating; the agency marked its account preliminary and subject to change.
According to Duffy, more than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the nationwide stop began, falling to fewer than 400 by 8 p.m. Medevac, life-saving cargo and law-enforcement flights were permitted to continue. The FAA’s cancellation notice gave 8:16 p.m. as the end of the stop; Duffy said airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. FlightAware counted 9,159 cancellations within, into or out of the United States on Friday and 3,515 more by 7:58 a.m. ET Saturday. Those totals cover all cancellations during those periods, not just flights affected by the ground stop.
FAA ground stop · Nov 13, 2026 · times ET (UTC−5)
Unreliable data, a full stop, a slow restart
What the FAA Command Center’s advisories and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy describe, step by step.
US airspace (schematic)
plane (schematic)airports
3,500+ planes in the airwhen the stop began, Duffy says Fewer than 400still airborne by 8 p.m. ET, Duffy says Restartground stop cancelled; flights resume slowly
What the FAA and Duffy said
- 3:21 p.m.Chicago O’Hare: arrival delays “due to equipment issues”FAA advisory 106
- 3:36 p.m.Radar and communications unstable at centers and TRACONs nationwideDuffy
- 3:54 p.m.“All airports are ground stopped”; departures heldFAA advisory 111
- 4:20 p.m.Airborne holding expected at “any and all airports”FAA advisory 116
- 8 p.m.Fewer than 400 planes still airborne, down from 3,500+Duffy
- 8:16 p.m.Nationwide ground stop cancelled; Duffy: airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m.FAA advisory 005
Sources: FAA Air Traffic Control System Command Center advisories 106, 111 and 116 (Nov 13) and 005 (Nov 14, 2026, UTC dates); Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy at the White House briefing, Nov 13 (transcript: Roll Call Factba.se) and on X (as quoted by Fox Business); BBC News, Nov 14. Durations: own calculation from advisory event times (2026: 20:53 to 01:16 UTC; 2023: 12:20 to 14:00 UTC). The radar picture is a schematic, not real traffic.
Graphic: Powered by Thorsten Meyer AI
Disruption Reached Beyond U.S. Airports
The order constrained departures across the country, while flights already in the air faced holding or rerouting as air traffic facilities managed the disruption. The effects also reached international operations: Eurocontrol suspended U.S.-bound departures from member states at the FAA’s request between 22:00 UTC on Nov. 13 and 05:00 UTC on Nov. 14, according to an agency notice cited by Xinhua. BBC News reported that Sydney Airport held U.S.-bound flights and Air Canada cancelled flights between Canada and the United States.
Even after the nationwide stop ended, the disruption did not instantly disappear. FAA advisories continued to impose airport- and airline-specific stops as carriers worked to reposition aircraft and crews. For passengers, the practical effects included cancellations and delays that could continue after departures resumed. The event also exposed the importance of communications systems used to coordinate traffic across multiple facilities; officials have not yet supplied a complete technical account of how the failure developed or how it will be prevented.
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From Chicago Alerts to Nationwide Stop
The Command Center’s timeline records equipment-related warnings at Chicago airports before the national order. At 3:30 p.m., the FAA activated a diversion recovery tool for all airports. After the nationwide stop, advisories told operators to expect airborne holding at any airport and extended flight-plan drop times at en route centers to 240 minutes, citing a nationwide communications failure. At 5:46 p.m., the FAA said flights would be released as en route facilities recovered and in coordination with the Command Center. By 7:37 p.m., some coastal facilities were releasing some international departures.
The nationwide advisory was cancelled at 8:19 p.m., with an event time of 8:16 p.m. The difference between the advisory’s publication time and its stated event time accounts for the slightly different times in public accounts. The source material, citing BBC News, describes the event as the longest nationwide ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. That comparison concerns the duration of a nationwide stop, not a claim that the circumstances were alike.
““We didn’t lose all telecom we didn’t lose all radar.””
— Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
Root Cause Still Under Investigation
Officials have not released a written report establishing the technical root cause, identifying the specific equipment involved, or explaining why the problem spread from early Chicago disruptions to a nationwide ground stop. Duffy’s account points to overloaded older switches and routers, but the FAA’s public statement remained preliminary and said technicians were investigating.
Cyberattack claims circulated after the event, but the source material does not establish that one occurred. Mullin said officials had found no evidence of an attack while also saying it could not be ruled out. Duffy and the maker of the FAA’s new SMART traffic tool said SMART was not connected to the failed equipment. The material also does not establish a final count of cancellations caused specifically by the ground stop: the cited FlightAware totals include other cancellations that day.
FAA Findings and System Funding
The FAA’s investigation is the next key milestone: a detailed report could clarify which equipment failed, how facilities were affected and what repairs or safeguards are planned. No publication date for a written root-cause report is provided in the source material. The agency’s advisories show that it restored departures in stages before lifting the nationwide order and continued issuing narrower restrictions afterward.
Duffy has warned that similar disruptions could happen again without investment in a replacement system and has called for $50 billion in funding. Congress’s response, the timing and scope of any upgrades, and the FAA’s technical findings remain unresolved. Passengers and airlines will also be watching for updated cancellation and delay information as operations and crew schedules recover.
Key Questions
When did the nationwide FAA ground stop happen?
It began at about 3:53 p.m. ET on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. The FAA’s cancellation notice gives 8:16 p.m. as the end, making the stop about four hours and 23 minutes long.
What caused the flight halt?
Duffy attributed it to instability affecting radar and communications at air traffic facilities, involving older telecommunications switches and routers. The FAA had not published a final root-cause report in the provided material.
Was the FAA outage caused by a cyberattack?
Officials said they had found no evidence of a cyberattack at the time, but Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said they were not ruling one out. A cyberattack has not been confirmed.
How many flights were cancelled?
FlightAware counted 9,159 cancellations within, into or out of the United States on Friday, plus 3,515 more by 7:58 a.m. ET Saturday. Those are all-cause totals for the stated periods, not counts of cancellations attributable only to the ground stop.
Could another nationwide stop happen?
Duffy warned that further disruptions could occur without investment in a new system and called for $50 billion. The source material does not confirm that another ground stop is planned or provide a timeline for upgrades.
Source: ThorstenMeyerAI.com
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