FAA grounds all flights nationwide Friday afternoon, citing safety concerns

The agency provided no details about the reason for the ground stop, the first nationwide halt since January 2023.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights nationwide Friday afternoon. The FAA notice said the ground stop was being imposed “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” But the government didn’t provide any details about the reason. This is the first nationwide ground stop since January 2023 when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Before that the last time had been after the Sept. 11, 2011 terrorist attacks.