A technical glitch in the air traffic control system in America completely disrupted air traffic. Due to disturbances in the communication system, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had to ban the takeoff of flights across the country. Due to this sudden decision, thousands of passengers got stuck at the airport, while a large number of flights had to be canceled and many planes had to be diverted.
Although the FAA later lifted the ban on flights, this technical problem affected about 15 thousand flights. According to American officials, in the initial investigation, a malfunction in the telecommunication system has been considered the reason. At present no evidence of any terrorist attack or cyber attack has been found.
Know the whole matter in 7 points
1. On Friday, just before 4 pm local time in America, a glitch occurred in the air traffic control system. Due to this, problems started in operating the planes. In view of the situation, FAA ordered to ban the takeoff of planes at airports across the country.
2. Due to this technical glitch, about 15,000 flights were affected by delay or cancellation. According to FlightAware, as of 4:45 pm local time, more than 7,800 flights in the US were delayed, while about 350 flights were canceled. At the same time, according to Flightradar24, during the ground stop, more than 1,000 planes headed towards America's airports were in the air.
3. The possibility of a cyber attack was also raised after a sudden malfunction in the air traffic system. However, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that initial investigation revealed a telecommunications problem. He said that it is not yet clear what caused the disturbance. Authorities have not found evidence of any terrorist attack or deliberate activity.
4. After the technical glitch, FAA had issued advisory to all the airports. In this, citing extraordinary circumstances and security reasons, instructions were given to ban the takeoff of flights. “All inbound traffic will be stopped at that point until further notice,” the notice said.
5. The effect of this disturbance was seen at many major airports of America. At Denver International Airport, passengers were asked to deboard the plane with their luggage. Many passengers started making arrangements for the next day's journey. At the same time, flights were already banned at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports due to technical problems.
6. US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the failure in the communication system through a social media post. He told that this has affected all the air route traffic control centres.
7. This shutdown in America was the third such incident in aviation history, when orders were given to stop flights across the country. Earlier, after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, all flights were stopped. After this, on January 11, 2023, the FAA had banned the takeoff of aircraft across the country. At that time, there was a malfunction in the system providing safety related information to the pilots.