The repercussions of the complete paralysis that struck air traffic in the United States have expanded, extending from airports to the corridors of the White House, amid intense security and technical investigations to uncover the causes of the widespread interruption in air communications systems, and serious fears that the disruptions will extend to global travel, at a time when American airports have reached their maximum capacity with a sharp decline in the number of flights.
Data from the “Flight Radar 24” website showed that the number of flights heading to American airports decreased to only about 1,000 flights, compared to more than 4,500 flights during the same period last week.
In Washington, the West Wing of the White House witnessed intense activity with the participation of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who entered the operations room, while Mullen briefed journalists on developments, stressing that US President Donald Trump received a detailed briefing and made a phone call with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to follow up on developments in the crisis.
In a remarkable development, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) opened an official investigation in coordination with law enforcement agencies. Officials confirmed to NBC News that initial examinations did not reveal any malicious activity or indications of cyber attacks, suggesting that the defect was the result of a software update, while ruling out any deliberate act of sabotage or similarity to the events of September 11, 2001.
In the same context, Minister Markwayne Mullen referred to another hypothesis under study related to the possibility that the interruption is linked to the gradual implementation of a new artificial intelligence system launched by the Federal Aviation Administration, stressing that investigators are studying this possibility without confirming the existence of a definitive relationship, while there are as yet no indications to determine the date for the resumption of flights.
Technical details indicate the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration’s communications infrastructure (FTI) network, which is the secure network that connects air traffic control facilities, which led to the loss of communications, the degradation of radar and flight data, and parts of the airspace entering a rare “ATC Zero” state in which control centers are unable to provide their services and separate aircraft safely.
Transport Minister Sean Duffy explained that the problem affected the country’s 22 regional control centers, while aviation experts defended the safety of the airspace, stressing that pilots received special training to deal with communications outages and rely on alternative systems.
The crisis was not limited to the United States, as the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation announced the suspension of flights to the United States at the request of the Federal Aviation Administration, coinciding with Air Canada’s announcement of stopping its flights to and from the United States.
Internally, major airports such as Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington and Chicago O’Hare International Airport reached their maximum capacity, prompting airlines to disembark passengers from planes and divert some flights, while limited cases excluded some international flights towards the Pacific Ocean and Asia from the suspension decision.
The repercussions extended to the land transportation sector, as the railway company “Amtrak” recorded huge demand, which led to malfunctions in its website and application, at a time when analysts warned of continued disturbances even after the resumption of flights.
This crisis, the first of its kind since January 2023, has once again highlighted the dilapidation of air traffic control infrastructure, as Republican members of the Senate Commerce Committee pointed out that the country has not built any new air traffic control center since the era of President Lyndon Johnson, despite Congress recently passing legislation allocating $1.9 billion to replace and consolidate old facilities.
