OMAHA, Neb. — The Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare nationwide ground stop on all departing flights from the U.S. on Friday, citing extraordinary circumstances and reasons of safety.
The ground stop took effect just after 3 p.m. Friday and applied to all U.S. airports. The FAA and White House said the issue appeared to be caused by a telecommunications outage. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy said in a social media post that FAA technicians were investigating.
At Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, the grounding confused travelers. An Alaska Airlines agent said crews learned of the stop directly from the cockpit…