US Federal Aviation Administration ( The FAA) has lifted the nationwide flight stop Friday, as a defect in the communications system of air traffic control centres caused chaos at American airports.

US Transport Secretary Sean Duffy announced that US airspace was re-opened at 20:15 Eastern time, at 1:15 on the GMT, respectively. However, he warned that relaunching flights will take place gradually and that time will be needed to restore operations to normal.

It would be a slow process, Duffy told reporters at the White House.

According to Flight Radar24 data, more than 6 thousand and 600 flights have been cancelled as a result of the break, while another 8 thousand and 600 have been delayed. Meanwhile, about 1,000 and 500 flights have been cancelled in advance for Sunday.

Duffy made it known that tens of thousands of travelers have been stranded at various airports in the country. He also announced that he had discussed the situation with President Donald Trump, along with Secretary of National Security Markway Mullin.

The problem began at around 3:36, when air traffic control centres experienced instability in radar and communication systems.

According to Duffy, the suspension was caused after the shutter and network equipment were overloaded by the amount of data, producing imbalances in broadcast information.

He stressed that the system did not completely lose radar function or communication and that, despite problems, thousands of planes managed to land safely.

Transport secretary said the immediate problem has been resolved and that flight is safe, but warned that the aging air traffic control system needs a wide modernisation.

$50 billion required for system modernisation

Duffy blamed the US Congress for the lack of funding needed for replacing the old infrastructure and demanded $50 billion for modernising the air traffic control system.

Meanwhile, the White House and the Transport Department had earlier sought approval of $30.1 billion to improve airports and aviation infrastructure in the country.

On the other hand, National Security Secretary Markway Mullin declared that so far there is no evidence that failure was caused by a cyberattack or an uncontrolled artificial intelligence system.

However, he said investigations are still under way and that the National Security Agency ( NSA is co-operating with the Department of Homeland Security to determine the cause of the incident.

According to the two aviation industry officials, the suspension has allegedly affected a telecommunication network managed by the company L3Haris Technologists, which allows radio frequencies used by air controllers for communications with pilots.

The L3 Harris company has not yet given a comment about the incident.

Source Layer: Dukeagini