FBI investigates software update behind nationwide ground stop incident
What's the story
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is looking into the possibility that a software update may have led to a nationwide ground stop by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The issue affected communication systems at all of the FAA's Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which are responsible for directing planes between airports. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the glitch impacted every en route air traffic control center operated by the FAA.
Investigation details
Software update under investigation
The FBI has not yet confirmed the specific software update under investigation or a restart time.
However, Bloomberg reported that the agency does not suspect a cyberattack or criminal act.
This theory of a software update causing the issue is more common than a hack and raises concerns about how routine maintenance can disrupt national systems.
Operational impact
FAA issued nationwide ground stop
The first signs of frequency issues were reported at Chicago O'Hare and JFK airports on Friday.
The FAA then issued a nationwide ground stop, asking airlines to keep all departing traffic grounded until further notice.
This led to about 8,000 delays and 400 cancellations within hours, with planes remaining on the tarmac from Chicago to New York.
Technical details
No indication of nefarious act
The glitch impacted communications at all of FAA's Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which manage planes between airports.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was "no indication, as of yet, that this was a nefarious act," calling it "just a telecommunications outage as of now."
A law enforcement source told CBS the problem involved radio frequencies and how pilots and controllers communicate with each other.
Disconnection
Microsoft Exchange Online problems
Despite the timing, officials have not ruled out any connection between the FAA glitch and Microsoft's Exchange Online problems.
The latter began shortly before 1:00pm ET on Thursday and spread to Outlook, Teams, SharePoint, and Copilot.
When asked about a possible link between the two issues, Mullin said, "I don't see any reason to connect those two at all. Those are separate issues."