Australians travelling in the US have been caught up in widespread disruption after a nationwide flight ground stop delayed thousands of passengers, leaving some stranded at airports.
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued the order on Friday local time, preventing departing flights from taking off in an exceptionally rare move.
The agency said the decision was made “due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety”. It was understood to be connected to a communications failure affecting air traffic control centres across the country.
“It is a developing situation, and there will be knock-on impacts for travellers,” the Australian Travel Industry Association (ATIA) said on Saturday.
Flights scheduled to leave Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport for the US were grounded throughout the morning.
The ATIA said passengers due to travel within the next 72 hours should be treated as the priority. It urged those who had not received information to contact their travel agent, airline or tour operator as soon as possible.
Travellers booked to depart more than 72 hours later were advised to wait while airlines and authorities assisted passengers affected earlier in the disruption.
Australian traveller Rivkah-Louise Brown was stranded at San Diego International Airport after her flight to Las Vegas was cancelled. She had been due to meet her fiancé there.
Australian traveller Rivkah-Louise Brown is stranded at San Diego International Airport after her flight to Las Vegas, where she was due to meet her fiancé, was cancelled
More than 10,000 flights were delayed and a further 1,700 cancelled in the US after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop on Friday local time
Air traffic control radar systems and radio frequencies reportedly failed simultaneously at multiple locations across the country. Pictured: passengers wait in a check-in line at Miami International Airport
“We actually haven’t heard a lot. You probably know more about it than what we do,” Ms Brown told ABC News on Saturday morning.
“Passengers are just using their phones to find out what’s happening… Flights have been delayed, flights have been cancelled or bumped, but that’s about it.”
Ms Brown was speaking from a queue at Delta’s customer service desk, where she was trying to cancel her bookings and organise an alternative route.
“I guess people have been cancelling their flights, getting hotels for the night. I’m planning to spend the night here and then I’ll get the bus to Vegas tomorrow,” she said.
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This publication has contacted Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for information about how Australians affected overseas may be supported.
By 6pm Eastern Time, more than 10,000 flights had been delayed and another 1,700 cancelled, according to flight-tracking service FlightAware.
The disruption began after the FAA ordered all departing traffic in the US to remain on the ground until further notice. The restrictions had been lifted by 1pm Australian time on Saturday.
An aviation source familiar with the situation told CNN that air traffic control radar systems and radio frequencies failed simultaneously at several locations around the country.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there were no signs of foul play
Pictured: passengers wait at check-in kiosks at San Francisco International Airport in California
The source said preliminary reports indicated the outage was not the result of a cyberattack, although FBI personnel around the country were monitoring the incident.
Bloomberg reported that investigators were examining whether a failed software update could have triggered the widespread systems outage.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no evidence of foul play.
“There was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us,” he said, while adding that authorities were “not ruling out anything at this point”.
“I want to make sure we say this again. There’s no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones. This isn’t another 9/11. I just can’t repeat that enough.”
The last nationwide aviation disruption on a comparable scale occurred on January 11, 2023, when a failure in the FAA’s Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) system caused flights to be halted.
US flights were also grounded and the country’s airspace closed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
An ATC Zero status is declared when an air traffic control facility is completely unable to provide safe service because of serious problems, including dangerous weather, equipment failures, fires or critical staffing shortages.
A nationwide ATC Zero declaration is extremely uncommon and has occurred only a handful of times in modern aviation history.
