After over four hours, the rare nationwide FAA ground stop has finally been lifted.
The disruption caused hundreds of flights from coast to coast to be canceled and stirred concern across the nation.
But now, things are starting to get back up and running.
And, we finally have some answers as to what exactly prompted the FAA to issue the order.
During a press conference this evening, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin shut down fears that this was due to a cyberattack.
“I just want to reiterate this: The public was never at danger through this process. There was never any lives at risk. There was no flights at risk,” he stated.
Watch:
.
@SecMullinDHS: There is no indication of a cyberattack — and we are working across government to make sure Americans are taken care of.
pic.twitter.com/Sjgsell2Bc
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47)
November 14, 2026
Rather, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy explained that there was an
“inconsistency” in data, which he blamed on outdated air traffic control systems.
ABC News reported:
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that “inconsistency” in data from routers in the air traffic control system led to the FAA issuing a nationwide ground stop Friday.
At 3:36 p.m, “we experienced instability for our radar and our communications in our centers and our TRACONs across the country,” he said, referring to Terminal Radar Approach Control facilities.
Duffy described an “incredibly old air traffic control system” that uses analog telecom.
“Our switches, our routers, actually got overloaded with data … and started to give us inconsistency in the data from those routers. And because of that, we shut the system down,” he said.
As a result, Secretary Duffy is calling on Congress to immediately pass funding in order to upgrade air traffic control equipment.
Watch what he had to say for yourself in this clip:
Today’s nationwide ground stop happened because our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century.⁰
@FAANews is modernizing this aging infrastructure thanks to a $12.5 billion down…
pic.twitter.com/nXUPHkdNdV
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
November 14, 2026
Today’s nationwide ground stop happened because our air traffic control system is operating on DECADES-OLD, analog equipment that simply cannot compete with the demands of the 21st century.@FAANews is modernizing this aging infrastructure thanks to a $12.5 billion down payment secured by President Trump, but that isn’t ENOUGH.
@POTUS is asking Congress to give us the resources to build a state-of-the-art air traffic control system. Let’s not do a patchwork fix to a system that’s critical for every single family.
It’s time for Congress to act. Give us the money to fix it. PASS THE MODERN SKIES ACT NOW.
Secretary Duffy also provided a clear timeline of the events on Friday:
The nationwide ground stop lifted at 8:15pm ET.
Here’s a breakdown of today’s timeline:
– At 3:36 p.m. ET,
@FAANews experienced telecommunications issues at facilities & TRACONs across the country
– The FAA issued a ground stop out of an abundance of caution while 3,500+…
https://t.co/PrmWktsHiP
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy)
November 14, 2026
The nationwide ground stop lifted at 8:15pm ET.
Here’s a breakdown of today’s timeline:
– At 3:36 p.m. ET, @FAANews
experienced telecommunications issues at facilities & TRACONs across the country
– The FAA issued a ground stop out of an abundance of caution while 3,500+ planes were in the air
– Pilots and air traffic controllers followed established procedures to safely land the aircraft, bringing the number in the airspace down to under 400 as of 8pm ET
– The FAA confirms they did not lose all radar or telecom, and exceptions were made to allow critical medevac, life-saving cargo, and law enforcement flights to continue operating
If you want to watch the full press conference, I have it for you right here:
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
