Former top FAA official warns of 48-hour recovery after aging tech ‘overwhelmed’ ahead of ground stop

A nationwide US flight ground stop followed equipment problems during work on the Federal Aviation Administration’s ageing telecommunications system. Former FAA executive Mike McCormick said the outage showed the difficulty of modernising technology while the system remains in operation, and urged Congress to fund a wider overhaul.

The outage began when a contractor replacing copper lines with fibre-optic cables installed a router that overloaded the network, causing radar and radio instability; officials said they found no evidence of a cyberattack. Flights resumed, but McCormick predicted at least 48 hours to reposition aircraft, passengers, baggage and crews, while aviation experts said the stop helped bring about the safe landing of 3,500 planes and more than a million travellers.