# What forced the US to ground all planes? A router switch, we now know

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/what-forced-the-us-to-ground-all-planes-a-router-switch-we-now-know/
- Published: 2026-11-15T09:17:49+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-15T11:41:59+00:00
- Original publisher: Al Jazeera (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/15/what-forced-the-us-to-ground-all-planes-a-router-switch-we-now-know?traffic_source=rss
- Topics: Americas, Culture, Travel, World

## Key points

- A router replacement triggered a US-wide flight stoppage.
- Officials ruled out a cyberattack.
- More than 14,000 flights were cancelled over two days.

## Summary

A routine router replacement in the US air traffic control network triggered a nationwide flight ground stop on Friday, after equipment overload caused communication and radar gaps. Officials say the disruption was not a cyberattack, but it led to thousands of cancellations and delays and renewed concerns about the reliability of ageing aviation systems.

The FAA stopped flights at 3:54pm East Coast time and lifted the restriction more than four hours later, at 8:15pm. More than 9,000 US flights were cancelled on Friday and over 5,000 on Saturday as backlogs continued. The work involved replacing copper wire with fibre-optic lines; the Transportation Secretary said a faulty device or contractor error caused one router to flood others with about 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds, affecting 17 of 22 FAA en route centres.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.