Chilling air traffic control audio captures panic as FAA grounds flights in longest ground stop since 9/11
Audio has emerged of the moment a student pilot, mid-flight on his first solo cross-country trip, was told by air traffic control that every flight in the US had been grounded.
The controller told him: "There is a ground stop nationwide. I advise you land your aircraft. Where would you like to land?" His response was: “I don't know what to do.”
The pilot was completing his first cross-country trip, according to WCVB.
"Ma'am, I'm a student pilot. Honestly, this is my first time doing solo cross-country," he said in the recording, adding that he was coming from Hicks Airfield in Fort Worth, Texas.
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The controller stayed calm and talked him through it.
She advised him to land at Hicks, citing multiple traffic in the vicinity, including 'both helicopters'. When he asked if he was clear to land, she said she could not give him clearance to that airport.
He then asked: "There's nothing wrong with the airport itself? It's just like nationwide?"
"Affirmative, nothing wrong with Hicks Airport itself. You can change to advisory frequencies; just suggest you land the airplane," she replied.
Why did the FAA ground every flight in the US?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lifted the nationwide ground stop at around 8:29 p.m. on Friday.
When the outage hit, the agency said: "There has been a temporary telecommunications outage - out of an abundance of caution, all flights have been halted. Every flight has been accounted for, and international flights will be handled on a case-by-case basis."
US aviation regulators initially said a major communications outage had disrupted air traffic, only the second such shutdown since the 9/11 attacks.
At a White House press briefing, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin confirmed this and said introducing new technology into an old air traffic control system had overwhelmed it.
Officials said a complete overhaul would need $50 billion in funding. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: "I think the question for the American people is, do you want your Congress to fund this?"
He added: "President Trump has asked for the money."
Another pilot reportedly took a long pause when a controller told him: "Just a heads up. It is a National Ground stop for all aircraft. Update time unknown." After the pause, he replied: "Good copy."
Passengers in the air were also told. A Delta pilot said: "There is a ground stop throughout the US. They say it is due to frequency issues. So that's all we have."
He added that the flight would land in Fort Lauderdale as scheduled, but that no flights could depart.
More than 3,500 airplanes were in the air when the ground stop was issued.
The shutdown reportedly caused airlines to cancel more than 1,000 flights and delay nearly 10,000 more, though another figure put it at as many as 15,000 delayed and 5,000 cancelled.
Departure boards at many airports showed flights operating normally even as travelers couldn't board.
Was the nationwide ground stop caused by a cyberattack?
Preliminary reports suggest the outage was not caused by a cyberattack, though FBI personnel across the country are monitoring the situation. Officials did not shed more light on the rumors during their address.
Thomas Bamford
