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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Sunday that two routers from FAA facilities in Texas and Arkansas are undergoing extensive testing as investigators examine whether faulty equipment or an installation problem triggered the nation’s longest nationwide ground stop in 25 years.
Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Duffy said that investigators have found no indication of a foreign cyberattack, although the FBI and other federal law enforcement partners remain involved in the probe.
“We think it was the installation or the router that was the bad actor,” Duffy said. “But we’re open, if we see something else, we’re gonna continue to investigate with our federal partners and law enforcement.”
FAA SAYS AIR TRAVEL SHOULD BE BACK TO NORMAL SUNDAY AFTER NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP
In an update posted on X, Duffy said contractor L3Harris had secured the two routers from remote FAA facilities in Texas and Arkansas and was conducting “deep diagnostics testing” at its headquarters in Florida, with engineers from the FAA, Juniper and Cisco assisting.
The investigation follows Friday’s nationwide ground stop, which halted air traffic for more than four hours and contributed to disruptions affecting roughly 15,000 flights Friday and Saturday.
The fallout continued Sunday, with 3,798 flights delayed and another 1,638 canceled within, into or out of the United States as of noon ET, according to flight-tracking website FlightAware. Among the hardest-hit airports according to the provided data were Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, with 376 delays, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, with 363 delays and 195 cancellations.
The shutdown occurred as L3Harris was replacing aging copper wiring with fiber-optic technology in the FAA’s communications system. The work led to intermittent communications and radar gaps, prompting officials to halt flights nationwide.
Duffy said President Donald Trump convened federal officials on Friday as the administration investigated whether the disruption could have involved malicious interference.
“President Trump actually had the whole of government on the phone on Friday,” Duffy said. “Was anyone seeing footprints? Was anyone hearing chatter? Was this a cyber attack from a foreign nation?”
“We have no indication that that was at play here,” he added.
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Duffy defended the decision to issue the nationwide ground stop, emphasizing that passenger safety takes precedence when problems emerge in the FAA’s communications network.
“When we have inconsistencies in our network we’re going to shut it down,” Duffy said.
The transportation secretary also warned that the FAA’s communications infrastructure remains outdated despite ongoing efforts to replace copper wiring with fiber-optic technology.
“We’re still using an old 1980 architecture for telecom,” Duffy said. “I need a brand new telecom system.”
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Duffy said AT&T, Verizon and Lumen are prepared to help build a replacement network, but additional congressional funding is needed to move forward.
The request has drawn scrutiny from congressional Democrats, who argue the administration has yet to spend billions already allocated for air traffic control modernization. Duffy countered that the existing funds were designated for specific upgrades, including radar, radios and electronic flight strips, rather than a new communications network.
Meanwhile, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford said Saturday that “the worst is behind us,” with air travel expected to return to normal by the end of Sunday.
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The nationwide ground stop was the first since January 2023 and only the second since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
