Nationwide Ground Stop Issued At US Airports Over 'Communication Issue': Transport Secretary

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a nationwide ground stop at all US airports Friday following a "communication issue," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

Duffy said the problem affected all Air Route Traffic Control Centres across the country.

"FAA technicians are investigating the issue," he said.

The transportation secretary added that the agency would provide updates as more information became available.

Later, the FAA said a temporary telecommunications outage prompted its decision to halt flights across the US as a precautionary measure.

"There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution all flights have been halted.

"Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis," the agency said.

Separately, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told the reporters that there was "no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack."

"There was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack. It is just a telecommunication outage as of right now. Everybody's safe. There is no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they're flying or anything like that," Mullin said.

Mullin said there is "no reason" for the public to be afraid or scared.

--  BERNAMA-ANADOLU