|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
U.S.
flights
resume
again
after a
national
ground
stop;
disruption
expected
to
linger
Marc
Kennedy
-
National-Politics
Tell Us
USA News
Network
WASHINGTON
— U.S.
flight
departures
resumed
Friday
night
after
the
Federal
Aviation
Administration
lifted a
nationwide
ground
stop
triggered
by air
traffic
control
communications
problems,
but
airlines
faced
lingering
disruption
as they
worked
to
reposition
aircraft
and
crews.
The
order,
issued
at 3:54
p.m.
Eastern
on
November
13, was
lifted
at 8:15
p.m.,
ending a
shutdown
of
departures
lasting
four
hours
and 21
minutes.
The
resumption
of
flights
did not
mean an
immediate
return
to
normal
service.
By 9
p.m.
Friday,
more
than
8,000
flights
had been
delayed
and
7,000
canceled
in the
United
States,
according
to
FlightAware
figures
reported
by NPR.
Those
figures
reflected
Friday’s
reported
disruption,
not a
final
tally of
the
event’s
impact.
Transportation
Secretary
Sean
Duffy
said air
traffic
control
facilities
began
experiencing
intermittent
radar
and
communications
outages
Friday
afternoon.
At a
White
House
briefing
that
evening,
he
blamed
outdated
equipment,
saying
routers
had
become
overloaded
with
data.
The
affected
facilities
included
Air
Route
Traffic
Control
Centers,
which
manage
high-altitude
traffic
across
large
regions
of the
country.
Homeland
Security
Secretary
Markwayne
Mullin
said new
technology
being
added to
the
existing
system
had
overloaded
older
components.
He also
said
there
was no
evidence
that an
attack
caused
the
disruption.
Those
statements
represented
officials’
initial
explanation,
rather
than the
findings
of a
completed
technical
investigation.
The
FAA’s
initial
notice
cited
“extraordinary
circumstances”
and
safety
concerns,
directing
departing
aircraft
to
remain
on the
ground
until
further
notice.
More
than
3,500
aircraft
were
already
airborne
when the
stop was
issued.
The
effects
extended
beyond
passengers
waiting
to
depart.
By 7:05
p.m.
Eastern
on
Friday,
aviation
analytics
company
Cirium
had
recorded
at least
827
diversions:
670
flights
returned
to their
departure
airports,
while
157 were
redirected
to other
airports,
according
to
Associated
Press
reporting.
Delta
Air
Lines,
United
Airlines
and
American
Airlines
said
Friday
evening
that
they
were
resuming
flights.
But the
restart
left
airlines
with
aircraft
and
crews
displaced
from
their
planned
locations,
complicating
the
restoration
of
scheduled
service.
Heading
into
Saturday,
the
central
issue
was no
longer
the
nationwide
departure
restriction,
but how
quickly
airlines
could
rebuild
their
schedules.
Aviation
specialists
warned
that
recovery
from a
disruption
of this
scale
could
take
several
days.
Duffy
likewise
cautioned
Friday
night
that
clearing
the
backlog
would
take
time.
Although
the
nationwide
stop has
ended,
individual
flights
may
still
face
schedule
changes.
The
reporting
available
for this
update
confirms
Friday
night’s
restart
but does
not
provide
a
verified
nationwide
flight-disruption
total
for
Saturday
morning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I
HI TECH NEWS
I
SPORTS
I
