AI summary
Summary of article:
The US FAA ordered a nationwide grounding due to an air traffic control communications failure. An abnormality first reported in Chicago and then spread throughout the United States. Microsoft’s global outage a day earlier had sparked speculation, but there is currently no evidence the two are related.
On the 13th, a major abnormality occurred in American air traffic. Due to a communications failure in the air traffic control system, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide grounding order on safety grounds, requiring all flights preparing to take off at airports across the United States to suspend departures until further notice. International incoming flights will be controlled on a case-by-case basis. This is another major technical failure in the US air transportation system in recent times, and it has also created new chaos for air transportation during the peak autumn and winter travel season.
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop the same day, citing “extraordinary circumstances” and requiring all flights preparing to take off to remain on the ground and wait for further instructions based on flight safety considerations.
The failure involved a “rolling frequency outage” at air traffic control facilities, affecting communications facilities responsible for monitoring aircraft in the air. Since air traffic control personnel must maintain contact with pilots via radio, any abnormality in communication equipment will directly affect flight safety, so the FAA decided to take strict preventive measures.
Before nationwide grounding orders were issued, abnormalities in air traffic control equipment were reported in Chicago.
Both Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Midway Airport were closed on the 13th due to equipment failures. The FAA Air Traffic Control Center reported at the time that the problem was related to the communications system, but no more detailed cause of the failure has yet been announced. The Chicago air traffic control communications problem subsequently expanded, and the FAA eventually issued a nationwide grounding order, requiring flights across the United States to suspend takeoffs.
However, this order does not mean that all aircraft already in the air will have to make emergency grounding or landing, but will instead require flights that have not yet taken off to suspend departures from the ground. Aircraft already in the air are managed by air traffic control units in accordance with safety procedures; International incoming flights are handled individually.
As of the 13th, the FAA has not yet announced the exact technical cause of the failure and when the nationwide grounding order will be lifted.
It is noteworthy that this is the second consecutive day that a major computer and communication system failure has occurred in the United States.
Microsoft has experienced a 12th global Microsoft 365 service outage, affecting services such as Outlook email, Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot, affecting at least 74 countries and regions around the world. Some service problems continued until the 13th.
Microsoft said the failure was related to technical issues that occurred during a system upgrade following network adjustments. There is currently no evidence that any cyber attack was involved. Microsoft is gradually restoring services, but some users may still experience delays in connections and emails.
However, there is currently no official information that proves that the Microsoft global service failure is directly related to the FAA’s air traffic control communication failure.
In recent years, the US air traffic system has experienced frequent technical failures, which has once again drawn attention to the issue of aging aviation infrastructure.
