The Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare nationwide grounding Friday afternoon after aging air traffic communications equipment became overloaded with data and began to fail, officials said. The disruption stranded thousands of passengers and caused widespread delays from which airlines and airports are still struggling to recover. It also highlighted lingering vulnerabilities in America’s aging air traffic infrastructure and a fight over funding, as administration officials urged lawmakers to approve tens of billions of dollars more to speed up system-wide upgrades. While the failures were not universal, they were widespread enough to prompt officials to issue a rare national moratorium on takeoffs, Duffy said. Appearing alongside him at the White House, Markwayne Mullin, the secretary of homeland security, emphasized that there was no evidence that nefarious activity had triggered the technological failures. It was what he had added to the old infrastructure that had overwhelmed it. Duffy insisted the failure was caused by old, outdated communications equipment, not recent system updates. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you’re in Reader mode, exit and log in to your Times account or subscribe to all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Sign in. Do you want all of The Times? Subscribe.
