The Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop for all airports in the U.S. on Friday afternoon, citing a communication issue impacting air traffic control centers. The FAA announced the ground stop was lifted shortly after 5:30 p.m.
A Piedmont resident reports that he was in a plane on the tarmac at SFO preparing for take off when the ground stop was called. The plane returned to the gate and passengers disembarked. After four hours the flight was ultimately cancelled at 5 p.m.
U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the stoppage at about 1:15 p.m. and said that FAA technicians were investigating the issue.
FAA officials on social media characterized the issue as “a temporary telecommunications outage” and said all flights have been accounted for, while international flights “will be handled on a case by case basis.”
San Francisco International Airport officials said as of 3 p.m. that Pacific-bound flights were cleared to take off from SFO, including destinations in Hawaii and Asia.
Airport officials advised people to check with their airline for their latest flight information.
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