The FAA, the American federal civil aviation authority, has ordered the blocking of all takeoffs from United States airports for safety reasons. The problem was apparently caused by a failure in the communication systems between the air traffic control centers.
The note was issued to all crews when it was 9pm in Italy on Friday 13 November 2026, 3pm in New York and 12pm in Los Angeles. The authorities have so far ruled out a hacker attack.
The fault would have blocked communications between traffic control centers and airports. The approaching planes were cleared to land, but many international flights – including from Europe – were canceled or diverted to their departure airports.
“There @FAAnews has issued a nationwide take-off ban for all airports in the United States following a communication problem that affected all Air Traffic Control Centers – announced Sean Duffy, Secretary of State for Transportation -. FAA technicians are investigating the problem. We will provide immediate updates as soon as we have them.” The FAA: “Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis.”
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