The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon because of communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.”
At least one plane — Alaska Airlines’ AS533 — was diverted to Fresno Yosemite International Airport (FAT), according to flightstats.com. It left Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 10:26 a.m. and was scheduled to arrive at around noon at San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport.
Three more planes returned to the gate at FAT to deplane Friday afternoon.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said there is a communications issue affecting the regional air traffic control centers that direct planes between airports nationwide. He said FAA technicians are investigating. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
