The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted within hours a nationwide halt on domestic flight takeoffs it had imposed because of a communications outage, CNN reported on Nov. 13 local time.
The move delayed or canceled thousands of flights at major airports.
The FAA ordered the takeoff halt over safety concerns stemming from the communications outage, the report said. An airline source said a network router problem that spread nationwide was the cause.
Cancellations triggered by the measure stranded about 1,500,000 passengers, according to an analysis by data firm Cirium. With the takeoff halt lasting more than 4 hours, planes already in the air also landed one after another, CNN reported.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the move was not due to a threat targeting the United States and was unrelated to a Microsoft outage this week. Investigative sources told CNN initial findings suggested it did not appear to be a cyberattack.
Chi-gyu Hwang (황치규)
delight@d-today.co.kr