WASHINGTON, Nov 14: The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon for just the second time since the September 11 attacks, with officials citing “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centres.
The nation’s top homeland security official attributed the problem to a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication yet of a nefarious act. But the consequences were profound, disrupting potentially thousands of planned flights through at least late Friday night and upending travel plans for passengers who were heading home, expected as wedding guests or had other weekend plans.
“It’s frustrating. This certainly sounds like it’s going to be more than the usual run-of-the-mill delay. I look forward to finding out why,” said Jeff Dubner, a Washington, DC, attorney, whose Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, DC, was already half an hour late and taxiing to the runway when the plane came to a halt. (Agencies)