FAA Grounds US Departures Nationwide Amid Telecom Outage

A telecommunications outage affecting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers prompted the FAA to impose a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday, disrupting thousands of flights and causing more than 1,000 cancellations. Officials said there was no current indication of a terrorist or other malicious attack, but had not ruled out a cyberattack and were investigating; they said the outage was unrelated to a major Microsoft disruption. The FAA allowed aircraft already airborne to land, said some departures could resume as facilities recovered, and handled international arrivals case by case. Disruptions varied by region, with hundreds of delays reported in Charlotte while most in-state flights in Alaska continued, though some departures were delayed. Officials gave no firm timeline for restoring normal operations, and travelers were advised to check directly with airlines.