On Friday, November 13, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ordered a nationwide ground stop on flight departures across the United States.

The measure began shortly before 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

The reason was a communications failure affecting all 22 regional air traffic control centres.

The order was issued as a precautionary measure: without reliable communications between air traffic controllers and traffic management systems, the normal and safe operation of flights could not be guaranteed. It was not an order for all aircraft already in the air to make emergency landings.

FlightRadar24 estimated that approximately 3,100 aircraft were airborne and heading for US airports when the ground stop began.

The response was as follows:

Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue their journeys.

Pilots maintained whatever communications were available with air traffic controllers and airport control towers.

Flights that could safely reach their destinations continued as planned.

If an aircraft could not continue to its intended airport, it was diverted to another airport.

New departures were suspended to prevent more aircraft from entering an air traffic control system affected by the disruption.

Meanwhile, concern has spread across Europe this week among passengers and airport staff following several bomb threats that have prompted significant security measures. Some flights have had to undergo additional checks, been delayed or diverted while specialist teams carried out inspections to ensure that no explosive devices were present.