The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all flights across the country late Friday afternoon "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety," the agency said.
The order was issued "following communication issues" impacting regional air traffic control centers that direct planes among airports, the agency said in a statement.
The order was only the second ground stop since one was issued after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to Reuters. A brief, two-hour ground stop was also issued in 2023.
The FAA's technicians are investigating, the agency said. They did not say how long the ground stop will remain in place.
At Newark Airport, the list of departures merely said "Data currently unavailable."
The website FlightAware showed that the last departure from the airport was at 3:36 p.m. They said more than 300 flights had been delayed on Friday.
A man who said he was at Teterboro Airport posted on social media around 4 p.m. that his pilot said flights were grounded and "Can't get ground to air communication."
Patch will update this breaking story when more information is available.
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