Why were flight takeoffs suspended in the US? Government rules out terrorist attack

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin stated this Friday that the order to suspend takeoffs at airports across the country is not due to any terrorist attack and is the result of "a telecommunications disruption."

"There is no reason for the public to feel fear or be concerned about their loved ones; this is not another September 11," Wayne explained to the media gathered at the White House.

¿Se acerca un apagón mundial? Estados Unidos emitirá una alerta en radio y televisión el 17 de noviembre

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a halt to outbound air traffic at all airports in the country this Friday due to a communication problem affecting control centers, according to Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy.

The FAA explained through a notification from the Air Traffic Control System Command Center that due to "extraordinary circumstances and for security reasons," a suspension of takeoffs at U.S. airports has been decreed.

The instruction explains that all outbound air traffic "shall remain on the ground until further notice" and that "international flights bound for U.S. airports will be handled on a case-by-case basis."

Duffy explained in a message on X that the suspension is due to "a communication issue affecting all air traffic control centers en route" and that FAA technicians are investigating the incident.

The U.S. air traffic control system suffers from obsolete infrastructure issues which, according to Duffy himself, make its technological modernization urgent.

The United States has the busiest airspace in the world, in which the FAA handles an average of more than 45,000 flights daily and serves about 2.9 million airline passengers.

This Friday's incident is the third general suspension of takeoffs in the United States so far this century; the first was following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and the second occurred in January 2023 due to a failure in the system that alerts pilots.