Takeoffs of planes authorized again in the U.S. after the failure that forced the suspension of thousands of flights nationwide for hours

Image source, EPAAuthor, Atahualpa AmeriseAuthor title, BBC News MundoPublication date 13 November 2026Updated 30 minutes agoReading time: 6 minThe United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) once again authorized flight takeoffs nationwide on Friday night after a suspension lasting more than four hours. The FAA had ordered the suspension of aircraft takeoffs at all airports in the country due to "extraordinary circumstances and for safety reasons" following a communications failure at air traffic control centers. On Saturday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy revealed that the incident was caused by a failure triggered during the replacement of "such an old" copper cable with a fiber optic one. For reasons still under investigation, during the replacement, the equipment connected to the old cable began to saturate other air traffic control systems, affecting radars and communications. However, hours later the country's major airlines, including American, Delta and United, announced the resumption of their flights. Duffy said the system would regain full capacity before the travel peak expected for the Thanksgiving holidays (November 26). From the very beginning, authorities attributed the incident to a failure in the aging air traffic system. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin explained that, as part of the air traffic control modernization, the FAA was incorporating new equipment and technology into the old infrastructure, which was still in use. Skip Most read and continue readingMost readEnd of Most readThose partial updates may have overloaded the system, according to his preliminary assessment. He indicated that technicians reduced the load on the network and restored service, although he warned that airport delays could last several days. Following the FAA's order, the country's major airports had suspended all takeoffs, including those in Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles and New York JFK. The suspension left tens of thousands of passengers grounded, some inside planes that could not take off. The air traffic suspension affected dozens of countries and passengers have been warned about possible disruptions and delays throughout Saturday. Image source, EPACaption, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy (left) and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin held a press conference on Friday night."Old equipment failed"Secretary Duffy said the airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday and warned that delays could last several days. "It will take us some time to figure out what happened this afternoon," he said at a press conference on Friday night, about 5 hours after the radar and communications problems began at 3:36 p.m. ET. Duffy explained that the FAA suspended takeoffs after detecting inconsistent data from the routers of the old telecommunications network, which had become "overloaded with data." Technicians restored the networks by reducing the load on the equipment. He said "old equipment failed," described the state of the system as a "national security risk," and asked Congress for $50 billion to modernize it. For his part, Secretary Mullin explained that the FAA was incorporating new equipment and technology into the air traffic control system while the old infrastructure was still in use. According to his preliminary assessment, those partial updates may have overloaded the old equipment. Duffy ruled out that the failure was due to SMART, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to analyze data on weather and flight routes, anticipate congestion and recommend adjustments. Three days earlier, the FAA had announced it would extend its use to the country's 22 en-route air traffic control centers. At the same press conference, Mullin said he has seen "no evidence that this is a cyberattack." Hours earlier, he told reporters at the White House that there were no signs it was an attack against the country. He also said authorities had located all flights. "Everyone is safe," he clarified, emphasizing that "this is not another 9/11." The FAA also ordered a nationwide ground stop in January 2023, following a failure in the safety alert system for flight crews. Mullin said there is "no reason" to link the air traffic control failure with Thursday's Microsoft services outage. Disruptions in Latin America and EuropeImage source, Getty ImagesCaption, The flight suspension caused delays and cancellations in several Latin American countries. Mexico's Federal Civil Aviation Agency had reported on Friday afternoon that the FAA had requested that all aircraft at Mexican airports with flights scheduled to the U.S. remain on the ground. In Argentina, several flights from Ezeiza airport to the United States were delayed on Friday, according to La Nación. In Chile, Santiago airport confirmed to BioBioChile the suspension of several LATAM flights bound for Miami, New York and Los Angeles. In Panama, Tocumen airport warned of possible delays and cancellations in both directions, according to the newspaper Telemetro. Cancellations also occurred in the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, reported on its website that all air traffic to the U.S. from its member states had been suspended "at the request of the FAA due to technical problems." Eurocontrol has 42 member states, including dozens of EU nations, the United Kingdom, Ukraine and Turkey, plus two "associated states" by agreement: Israel and Morocco. Image source, ReutersWhat we know about the flight suspensionThis is what we have been able to confirm so far:Takeoffs were authorized again at 8:15 p.m. ET on Friday, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had suspended them nationwide for more than four hours "due to extraordinary circumstances and for safety reasons." The failure affected air traffic control communications. Duffy explained that the old network's equipment became saturated and began transmitting inconsistent data. Technicians reduced the load on that equipment and restored the network. Duffy ruled out that the failure was due to SMART, the new air traffic management tool. Cancellations were approaching 5,000 at 7:45 p.m. ET on Friday, according to FlightAware data that includes flights within the U.S. and those with origin or destination in the country. The effects would continue through the weekend and authorities recommend passengers check their flight status with the airline. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said "this is not another 9/11," in an attempt to reassure the public. Mullin ruled out a cyberattack and said the suspension has no relation to the Microsoft services outage. Passengers stranded on planes and confusion in terminalsImage source, ReutersCaption, Many planes that had just landed remained on the runway awaiting instructions. Micah Feinstein was about to take off from Baltimore-Washington airport bound for Rio de Janeiro when passengers were told the plane could not leave. He told the BBC that the crew had given little information and seemed "not to know what is happening.""We passengers are just as confused," Feinstein said, resigned to missing his connection in Panama City if he managed to leave Maryland."People have remained pretty calm. I think we're all trying to rearrange our plans," he added. At Denver airport, BBC presenter Sumi Somaskanda said there was "some confusion" and that the screens did not yet reflect the suspension. "There are several people here who are checking bags, going to the counters to prepare for their flights and head to security, but are now finding out that takeoffs have been suspended." In Los Angeles, a passenger from Newark told CBS News, the BBC's U.S. partner, that his plane could not reach the gate because another aircraft was still there without authorization to take off. In Austin, another passenger said that after landing they were asked to "stay where they were." Download the new BBC World Service app. Choose BBC News Mundo and get news alerts, documentaries and analysis, all in one place. Important: the new app is not available in the UK or the United States.