The suspension of departures from US airports was caused by instability in radar and communications systems across the country, US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said at a White House press conference.
According to him, instability was recorded at 15:36 in communications and radar centres and at towers across the country. Inconsistent information began coming from radars, although neither communications nor radar capabilities were completely lost, the official noted.
Emergency departure restrictions were introduced at 15:53 local time and remained in effect until 20:19. Arriving international flights were handled on an individual basis.
As the press service of aviation analytics company Cirium told RIA Novosti, the collapse affected 11,000 flights and 1.5 million passengers. More than four thousand departures were cancelled.
This is the second such case in US history after the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The previous time the FAA imposed a ban on domestic flights was in January 2023, but then the restrictions lasted less than two hours.