On Friday, November 13, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) halted departures from every airport in the country — the first nationwide ground stop since 2023. Ukrainian tech media were quick to call it “the first truly big AI fail”. So far, however, no official source has confirmed that artificial intelligence caused the outage.
The FAA announced the ground stop in an official statement, citing “communication issues impacting multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers”. The order took effect at 3:54 p.m. ET.
What happened
According to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, more than 3,500 aircraft were airborne when the order came and were allowed to land. Inbound international flights were handled case by case. Airspace reopened at about 8:15 p.m. ET, Al Jazeera reports. FlightRadar24 data show more than 4,700 cancellations and around 10,000 delays on Friday alone.
It was only the third nationwide ground stop in US history, after the September 11, 2001 attacks and an FAA computer failure in January 2023.
Where the AI theory came from
Three days earlier, on November 10, the FAA extended its new AI-powered tool SMART, built by Air Space Intelligence (ASI), to all 22 en-route centres. As described by the US Department of Transportation, it pulls together some 200 data streams and offers scheduling recommendations; it cannot control aircraft or replace controllers.
The Ukrainian outlet SPEKA built its “first big AI fail” story on that timing — while noting itself that the conclusion holds only “if the information is confirmed”.
What officials say
At a White House briefing, Duffy said SMART is not connected to the core radar and flight-tracking systems and could not have caused the outage, The Washington Times reports. He blamed old switches and routers overloaded with data, called the system “incredibly old” and asked Congress for $50 billion to modernise it.
ASI also denied on X that the ground stop was linked to SMART or its FAA integration. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no sign of a cyberattack.
Meanwhile, CBS News sources said an update to the network connecting the air traffic control system may have triggered the crash, and investigators are looking at a possible software update. Some controllers, CNN reported citing the Washington Examiner, do not accept Duffy’s explanation.
The bottom line: the cause has not been officially established. A coincidence in timing does not prove AI was to blame — but it is too early to rule out a role for new technology altogether. InfoLight.UA will follow the investigation.
Photo: air traffic controllers at the Washington ARTCC, archive. FAA / Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
