US flight chaos triggers 9/11 memories as air traffic failure strands thousands

WASHINGTON: A nationwide shutdown of US air travel triggered memories of the September 11, 2001 attacks and left tens of thousands of passengers stranded on Friday, after a communications failure in the country’s air traffic control system forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ground flights for four hours.

The FAA lifted the ground stop at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time (0115 GMT on Saturday), reopening US airspace after the longest nationwide flight suspension since the 9/11 attacks. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that operations would resume gradually and airlines could take days to restore normal schedules.

The safety of the flying public is always the FAA’s highest priority. The FAA lifted the ground stop and some flight departures are resuming. Before clearing flights to resume, we thoroughly tested our systems to confirm they were stable and that operations remain reliable.…

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) November 14, 2026

The disruption resulted in more than 6,600 flight cancellations and 8,600 delays, according to FlightRadar24, while another 1,500 flights had already been cancelled for Sunday. Aviation analysts warned that the four-hour shutdown could have repercussions across airline networks for several days.

At 20:54 UTC, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all flights departing for US airports due to an equipment outage. At the time, 4,042 flights destined for US airports were already airborne. Watch the next two hours of US air traffic. pic.twitter.com/qbtzX7cMtc

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 13, 2026

The incident, which affected airports across the country, was the third nationwide ground stop issued by the FAA this century.

For many passengers, the sudden suspension brought back memories of the September 11 attacks, when hijacked aircraft were used in coordinated strikes against the United States.

“It was kind of scary,” said Grissel Francis, who was travelling with her husband, Joseph, from Dallas to New York when their flight crew announced that all aircraft across the country had been grounded.

“You have these flashbacks from 9/11, you know,” she said.

The couple’s aircraft was among the last to reach its destination before the shutdown took full effect. After landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, their plane remained on the crowded runway for about an hour while waiting for an available gate, alongside several other aircraft.

Ageing technology blamed for nationwide disruption

Duffy attributed the disruption to instability in ageing radar and communications infrastructure used by air traffic controllers, ruling out malicious activity as the immediate cause.

He said the problem began at 3:36 p.m. when air traffic control centres experienced instability in their systems.

“Our switches, our routers actually got overloaded with data and they started to give us inconsistencies in the data from those routers and because of that we shut the system down,” Duffy told reporters.

He said authorities had not completely lost radar or communications capabilities and had been able to land thousands of aircraft safely.

The immediate technical problem had been resolved, Duffy said, adding that flying was safe and flights could resume. However, he acknowledged that the country’s ageing air traffic control infrastructure required a broader overhaul to prevent similar incidents.

Calling for greater investment, Duffy urged Congress to provide $50 billion to modernise the system, blaming a lack of funding for delays in upgrading critical infrastructure.

Earlier on Friday, the White House and the Department of Transportation had asked lawmakers to approve $30.1 billion for improvements to the country’s airports and air traffic control infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was “zero evidence” so far that the outage had been caused by a cyberattack or a rogue artificial intelligence system, although investigators had not ruled out either possibility.

“It appears this was mechanically driven, however, we’re still looking,” Mullin said, adding that the National Security Agency was assisting the Department of Homeland Security with the investigation.

The outage appeared to have affected a telecommunications network overseen by L3Harris Technologies, according to two airline officials. The network handles critical radio frequencies used by air traffic controllers to communicate with pilots. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Passengers stranded despite lifting of ground stop

Although the FAA reopened the country’s airspace, the disruption continued at major airports, with passengers facing lengthy delays, cancellations and overnight stays.

At Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, departure boards were almost entirely filled with flights marked as delayed or cancelled, leaving travellers uncertain about when they would reach their destinations.

David Johnson, whose flight from Washington to San Francisco was delayed twice, said the lack of clear information had made the situation particularly frustrating.

“I don’t know at this point how something like this could be happening and how this situation can last so long,” he said, adding that passengers could make alternative arrangements if airlines communicated the expected duration of delays.

Barbara Steinberg, an accountant from Cedar Knolls, New Jersey, was also forced to change her plans after her Porter Airlines flight from Newark to Toronto was cancelled. She had hoped to attend her high-school reunion but was forced to rebook for Saturday.

“There’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be fixed, and that’s what somebody needs to figure out,” she said.

Other travellers said they understood the need for the precautionary shutdown despite the inconvenience.

Debra Bliesner, 71, who was travelling from San Jose to Palm Springs, said her 30 years of service in the US Air Force had made her take the FAA’s decision seriously.

She said she would rather face travel delays than risk compromised safety.

At Newark Liberty International Airport, Edward Karagbo, 50, from West Chester, Pennsylvania, was left stranded after his Ethiopian Airlines flight to Lome, Togo, was rescheduled for early Saturday morning.

“I have to squat the night here,” he said. “I’m stranded.”

Louise Maher, 47, whose British Airways flight from Newark to London was also affected, said the uncertainty had taken an emotional toll.

“I might cry at some point but not yet,” she said.

US airlines will not be required to compensate passengers stranded by the disruption because the carriers were not responsible for the FAA system failure.

American Airlines said it was prioritising flights to smaller cities outside its major hubs and international destinations to reposition aircraft and crews and help accelerate the recovery.

The only other nationwide ground stop since the September 11 attacks occurred in January 2023, when the FAA suspended domestic departures for about 90 minutes following a computer system outage.