US FAA grounds all departing flights due to extraordinary circumstance, safety reasons
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/faa-issues-national-ground-stop-due-extraordinary-circumstance-reasons-safety-2026-11-13/
> The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop of all departing flights on Friday "due to extraordinary circumstance and reasons for safety" after the agency earlier reported serious air traffic control communications issues.
FAA advisory on FAA website:
https://www.fly.faa.gov/adv/adv_otherdis?adv_date=11132026&advn=111
Or at least it should be there. System might be overloaded.
Yesterday:
FAA expands AI advice to manage air traffic congestion across entire US airspace
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/11/faa-expands-ai-advice-to-manage-air-traffic-congestion-across-entire-us-airspace/
> The US government has expanded the use of an AI tool for advising air traffic controllers to assist in managing air traffic across the entire national airspace system. Airline executives have voiced support for the rollout, but the US labor union representing air traffic controllers has said it was not involved in designing or testing the AI-driven system.
"You're absolutely right to push back.
Wait, no I didn't mean off the gate!"
https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3n27ypzrmx62v
> Q: There are thoughts that this could be an AI related issue---
> MARKWAYNE MULLIN: We call it SI, remember. You can't rule out anything at this point
Turns out it was related to an update on a Friday!
> An update to the private communications network that connects America's air traffic control system caused the system to reboot, leading to a crash and a communications outage, multiple sources told CBS News. The system is operated by L3Harris, which did not immediately respond to CBS News' request for comment.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/faa-issues-nationwide-ground-stop/
Edit: the information on SpaceX-related issue seems to be based on a tweet from Hawaii Department of Transportation that is no longer there. Hawaii DoT seems to not have offered any explanation.
---
Seriously?..
All West Coast US flights also now halted because of ‘debris from SpaceX launch’
https://bigislandnow.com/2026/11/13/all-west-coast-us-flights-also-now-halted-because-of-debris-from-spacex-launch/
@rysiek check out the editor's note on the article you linked.
Yeah, it sounds like Hawaii officials botched this, maybe understandable in the confusion surrounding the FAA ground stop.
It never made sense to announce a halt to flights over rocket debris thousands of miles away, and I wish reporters had immediately flagged that issue since a lot of people seem to run with the story.
