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The FAA halted U.S. departures nationwide after an air traffic communications outage, then lifted the stop Friday night.

The FAA said communications problems affected air traffic control centers and cited safety concerns; technicians investigated while the order was in effect. The stop lasted several hours, and flights resumed, but delays and cancellations continued as airlines worked to recover.

What the reports agree on

  • The FAA ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday. Newsweek, The Hill, PBS NewsHour, CBS News and 4 more
  • The stop followed communications problems affecting air traffic control centers. Newsweek, The Hill, PBS NewsHour, ABC News and 3 more
  • FAA technicians investigated the problem. Newsweek, The Hill, PBS NewsHour, ABC News and 1 more
  • The FAA later lifted the stop and allowed flights to resume. Axios, CBS News, The Hill, France24 and 2 more
  • Flight disruptions continued after the ground stop ended. Axios, France24, Al Jazeera, Guardian World and 1 more

Where reports differ

  • FlightAware reported nearly 7,000 delayed or canceled flights. Guardian World
  • FlightAware recorded more than 8,500 delayed flights and nearly 8,000 cancellations on Friday. BBC US
  • By Saturday morning, nearly 2,000 flights were delayed and nearly 3,800 were canceled. The Hill

Reported by one outlet

  • The Hill reported that three Big Ten teams were also affected by the ground stop. The Hill
  • BBC US reported that Duffy estimated replacing the overloaded legacy communications system would cost $50 billion. BBC US
  • Axios reported that the FBI was investigating whether a faulty software update caused the problems. Axios

The original reports

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