Copper wire upgrade blamed for US flight disruption

Summarised from 3 outlets · Updated 15 Nov, 07:38 · Archive

A faulty copper wire upgrade caused a nationwide US flight ground stop on Friday, grounding thousands of planes.

A nationwide US ground stop on Friday caused by a copper wire upgrade disrupted tens of thousands of flights and left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded. The Trump administration blamed the disruption on a botched replacement of old copper wire communication lines. This was the longest such suspension since the 11 September 2001 attacks.

Transport Secretary Sean Duffy told a news conference that the government was investigating whether the problem stemmed from 'incompetence' by the contractor or faulty equipment. L3Harris, a technology provider company, was carrying out maintenance to switch from copper wire to fibre when the issue occurred. The router being worked on started flooding other air traffic control systems, creating communication issues with planes. Duffy noted that the US has 'an incredibly old telecommunications system', adding: 'It was such an old wire that it was being discontinued.'

FAA chief Bryan Bedford said 12,000 flights were cancelled on Friday, with between four and five thousand of the 41,000 scheduled flights for Saturday likely to be cancelled. As of Saturday evening, more than 6,200 flights had been cancelled. Bedford offered a 'sincere apology to the American traveling public' and predicted full resumption of flight schedules by 'close of business on Sunday'.

Officials ruled out a cyber-attack, although an investigation was continuing. L3Harris said it had completed over 70 per cent of the work to modernise communications infrastructure before the shutdown and was supporting the FAA's investigation.

How it is being reported

• Repair of old copper wiring caused U.S. flight disruption, Trump administration saysFriday's nationwide ground stop sparked widespread chaos and left hundreds of thousands of passengers in limbo.The Japan Times · 14 Nov, 23:53
• Copper wire upgrade caused nationwide flight suspension, US transport secretary saysThe US government is trying to find out whether the chaos was caused by "incompetence" or faulty equipment.BBC News · 14 Nov, 17:16
• Copper wires to blame for US flight disruption, says Trump administrationWith thousands of flights cancelled and travel disruption continuing, officials say the situation should return to normal Sunday. The Trump administration pointed to aging infrastructure – specifically "a botched replacement of old copper wire communication lines" – as being responsible for nationwide travel chaos.France 24 · 14 Nov, 15:35

In this story: Trump administration · Federal Aviation Administration · L3Harris · Sean Duffy · Bryan Bedford · United States

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