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FAA network failure grounded flights after equipment upgrade caused overload
A nationwide US flight ground stop followed a router overload in an FAA communications system, after contractor L3Harris replaced copper wire with fibre-optic cable during routine maintenance. Officials said the incident appears to involve equipment or installation problems, and are investigating the cause; the disruption exposed how a failure in a remote part of the network can affect air travel nationwide.
The FAA said two sources sending unusually high volumes of connections were disabled to stabilise the network. More than 8,200 flights were cancelled on Friday evening and at least 3,000 more on Saturday, even after the stop was lifted. The FAA said it had no evidence the recently announced AI tool was involved; this was only the third nationwide ground stop of the 21st century.
In short
- A router overload triggered a nationwide US flight stop.
- More than 11,200 flights were cancelled across Friday and Saturday.
- The FAA is investigating the equipment failure and says AI was not involved.
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Originally published by TechCrunch as “Transportation secretary blames ‘routine’ equipment upgrade for grounding flights nationwide”.