THOUSANDS OF FLIGHTS DISRUPTED AS US ORDERS NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP

THOUSANDS OF FLIGHTS DISRUPTED AS US ORDERS NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP

Thousands of airline passengers across the United States were left stranded on Friday after a major air traffic control communications failure forced aviation authorities to temporarily suspend departing flights nationwide.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the rare ground stop on November 13, citing extraordinary circumstances and aviation safety concerns.

The suspension lasted more than four hours, disrupting operations at major airports and triggering widespread cancellations and delays.

According to aviation tracking data cited by ABC News, nearly 5,000 flights were cancelled on Friday, with hundreds of additional cancellations already recorded for Saturday.

Several airlines, including United Airlines and JetBlue, announced extensive cancellations as the disruption continued.

US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the emergency to a telecommunications outage and said there was no indication that the incident resulted from a malicious attack.

The nationwide ground stop was subsequently lifted, allowing flight operations to resume.

However, airlines warned that the disruption could continue affecting passengers as they worked to restore normal schedules.