Australians travelling across the United States have been caught up in major disruption after a rare 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, instructing departing flights to remain on the ground in an exceptionally unusual move.
The agency cited “extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety”. The stoppage was reportedly connected to a communications failure affecting air route 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.
The organisation advised passengers scheduled to fly within the next 72 hours to contact their travel agent, airline or tour operator immediately if they had not yet received updates.
Travellers booked on flights more than 72 hours away were encouraged to wait, allowing airlines and authorities to assist those facing more immediate departures first.
Among those affected was Australian traveller Rivkah-Louise Brown, who was left at San Diego International Airport after her flight to Las Vegas was cancelled. She had been due to meet her fiancé.
“We actually haven’t heard a lot. You probably know more about it than what we do,” she told ABC News on Saturday morning.
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 imposed a nationwide ground stop on Friday local time
Air traffic control radar systems and radio frequencies reportedly failed at the same time in several locations across the country. Pictured: passengers wait in a check-in queue at Miami International Airport
“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 while waiting in line at Delta’s customer service counter, hoping to cancel her bookings and organise another way to reach her destination.
“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.
The Daily Mail has contacted Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for information about what assistance may be available to Australians affected overseas.
Flight tracking service FlightAware reported that more than 10,000 flights had been delayed and approximately 1,700 cancelled by 6pm Eastern Time.
The disruption began after the FAA directed all departing US air traffic to remain grounded until further notice. A federal notice said the ground stop was expected to continue until at least 11pm local time.
An aviation source familiar with the situation told CNN that air traffic control radar networks and radio frequencies had stopped working simultaneously in several parts of the country.
Although early reports indicated that the outage was not the result of a cyberattack, FBI teams around the US were monitoring the incident, the source said.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no evidence of deliberate wrongdoing
Pictured: passengers wait at check-in kiosks at San Francisco International Airport in California
Bloomberg reported that investigators were examining whether a failed software update may have triggered the widespread systems outage.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officials had found 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 most recent 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 brought flights to a standstill.
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 becomes entirely unable to provide safe service because of serious problems, including extreme weather, equipment breakdowns, fires or severe staffing shortages.
A nationwide ATC Zero declaration is extraordinarily uncommon and has occurred only a small number of times in modern aviation history.