Photos show trouble at airports nationwide as FAA grounds all flights
· Business Insider
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- Passengers are being taken off planes nationwide.
- The FAA ordered all planes grounded.
- The Transportation Secretary cited a "communications" issue at all air-traffic control centers.
It's a bad night to be traveling.
Passengers are being deplaned, and flights are delayed after the FAA grounded every flight nationwide because of what it called "extraordinary circumstances."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was ordered because of a "communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers."
Officials have not yet said what caused the communication issue.
As the ground stop became a multi-hour ordeal, passengers have begun to crowd boarding areas, have been asked to leave flights, and are scrambling to find their luggage.
'All flights have been halted'Passengers wait at McGhee Tyson Airport after the FAA issued a ground stop for all flights across the U.S. on Nov. 13.Adam Sparks/News Sentinel/Reuters
Boarding areas began to fill up at airports across the country.
On Friday afternoon, the FAA said in a post on X that there has been a temporary telecommunications outage.
"Out of an abundance of caution, all flights have been halted," said the FAA. "Every flight has been accounted for and international flights will be handled on a case by case basis."
The exact cause remains unclearA person stands in front of a departures board at Logan international airport after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop "due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety."Brian Snyder/Reuters
Flight boards are flashing red and orange across all major airports. Transportation officials have not yet said why they issued the ground stop.
The FAA is prepared to make a system updatePassengers wait inside the main terminal after the US Federal Aviation Administration issued a national ground stop "due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety" following the agency's earlier report of serious air traffic control communications issues at Dulles International Airport, in Dulles, Virginia, US, November 13, 2026. REUTERS/Daniel HeuerDaniel Heuer/Reuters
In some airports, stranded passengers are congregating in terminals as security check lines grow longer.
The outage occurred the same day the FAA rolled out SMART, a new AI-powered tool designed to help manage air traffic.
Air Space Intelligence, the company behind SMART, said Friday's disruption was not "based on or a result of the SMART system, any product of ASI or our integration with FAA and ATC."
Lines are growing in many airportsQueues are forming at the Salt Lake City airport after passengers were told to disembark a flight to Chicago.Jon Lett
Jon Lett, a passenger who was traveling from the Salt Lake City Airport to Kansas City, told Business Insider that everyone on his flight has been told to disembark and wait.
Lett said that, though the mood among passengers remains "chill," there is no telling whether his flight will be able to depart anytime soon.
Planes are parked on the tarmacPlanes wait on the tarmac at Chicago O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, on November 13, 2026.KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Photos show planes parked back-to-back at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
National ground stops are historically rare for the FAA.
In January 2023, the FAA halted flights because of an outage involving its pilot alert system. Before that, nationwide air traffic was halted following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Traffic outside the airports also began to pile upTraffic piles up outside a terminal at Dulles International in Virginia after the FAA issued a national ground stop "due to extraordinary circumstances and reasons for safety" on Friday.Daniel Heuer/Reuters
Passengers are strandedAir travelers wait inside the Frederick W. Smith International Airport in Memphis after the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop on Nov. 13, 2026.Chris Day / The Commercial Appeal/Reuters
Some passengers are settling in and preparing for a night spent at the airport. Air travelers could be seen camping out on the floor and napping.
Luggage is slow to appearPeople line up to try and retrieve luggage during delays and cancellations at LaGuardia airport on November 13, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City.Adam Gray/Getty Images
Lines to collect luggage are also growing in some airports. It is unclear whether they are arriving passengers or travelers giving up on their flight for the day.
Travelers are left sitting in the planePeople wait whilst onboard a plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DCBrendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images
Not everyone has been ordered to disembark. Photos showed some passengers sitting in unmoving planes.
The FAA has not issued any updatesEmmanuel Romero, relaxes on the ground as his daughters Arianne Romero, left, Hannah Romero, right, and wife, Alejandra Para, wait in the terminal at St. Louis Lambert International Airport to hear if their flight to California will be cancelled on Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. The family's flight is affected by the nationwide ground stop the FAA issued to all flights Friday afternoon. The family was in Missouri to see Hannah graduate from her Advanced Individual Training (AIT) with the Army at Fort Leonard Wood. (Photo by David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images)David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via Getty Images
As of 8 p.m., the FAA has not issued any new updates on when the ground stop will end.
Some exhausted passengers with canceled flights are lying down on the floor to rest.
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