Recordings have captured the confusion among pilots and passengers after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday, halting departures across the United States.
In one exchange, a student pilot completing his first solo cross-country flight appeared to panic after an air traffic controller told him about the disruption and asked where he wanted to land.
“I don’t know what to do,” the pilot replied.
The aircraft was travelling from Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas. The controller remained calm, directing him towards Hicks and warning him about helicopter traffic in the area.
“Landing at Hicks, I advise you land the airplane. There is multiple traffic in the vicinity of Hicks… both helicopters,” she said.
When the pilot asked whether he was cleared to land, the controller explained that she could not issue clearance for the airport. He then sought reassurance that the problem was not specific to Hicks.
“There’s nothing wrong with the airport itself? It’s just like nationwide?” he asked.
The controller replied: “Affirmative, nothing wrong with Hicks Airport itself. You can change to advisory frequencies; just suggest you land the airplane.”
She added: “There is a ground stop nationwide. I advise you land your aircraft. Where would you like to land?”
Pilots told passengers about the national ground stop
Another pilot was told by air traffic control: “Just a heads up. It is a National Ground stop for all aircraft. Update time unknown.”
After a long pause, the aviator responded: “Good copy.”
Passengers on flights already in the air were also informed. A Delta pilot told those on board that there was a ground stop throughout the US, which officials said was linked to frequency problems.
The pilot said the aircraft would continue to Fort Lauderdale as scheduled, but departures from airports were no longer permitted. Flight attendants were seen moving through the cabin as passengers listened to the announcement.
More than 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the stop was introduced. The disruption was said to have delayed as many as 15,000 flights and cancelled another 5,000, while airport departure boards in some locations continued to show normal operations despite passengers being unable to board.
The FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage had led it to halt flights “out of an abundance of caution”. It added that every flight had been accounted for and that international services would be handled individually.
The nationwide ground stop was lifted at about 8.29pm on Friday. Officials described the incident as only the second shutdown of its kind since the 9/11 attacks.
At a White House briefing, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the outage occurred after new technology was introduced into an older air traffic control system, overwhelming it.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a complete overhaul of the system would require $50 billion in funding. Preliminary reports indicated that the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, although FBI personnel across the country were monitoring the situation.
