FAA disables router function while outage cause remains unresolved
Where it stands
The nationwide ground stop ended November 13 and is not pending. The FAA says the system is stable and operations are returning to normal, but the root cause remains under investigation. As a precaution, the agency disabled the same broadcasting function on approximately 60 similar routers. Duffy's $50 billion public demand and the administration's separate $30.1 billion written request remain funding proposals, not enacted appropriations.
Sources reviewed: Nov 15, 2026 · 3:05 PM EST
The Federal Aviation Administration says its initial investigation traced the November 13 data flood to two possible locations: a radar site in Amarillo, Texas, and a radio-communications site in El Dorado, Arkansas, where contractor L3Harris had deployed a new router. The agency says the network stabilized after the two locations were blocked and that it disabled the relevant broadcasting function on approximately 60 similar routers as a precaution.
The FAA says 17 of its 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers experienced instability. Those are the agency's current findings during an ongoing investigation; the FAA and L3Harris have not issued a completed root-cause determination.
The response.
The FAA says legacy equipment became unstable when data hit its telecommunications network at about 1,000 connection attempts every four to five seconds, disrupting communications and radar feeds. It says some frequencies and radar feeds remained available, all aircraft landed safely and no available evidence indicates a cyberattack or outside malicious actor. Duffy said the affected router was sent to an L3Harris laboratory with FAA personnel present and that investigators were examining both the router and the installation process. Trump called on Congress for more modernization funding, while Duffy maintained that the existing $12.5 billion appropriation is already allocated to specified equipment and does not cover a new network or separation software. Democratic lawmakers said about $11 billion of the earlier appropriation remained unspent; Duffy responded that Congress restricted how those funds may be used. The competing funding statements are policy arguments, not an appropriation or technical finding. The FAA's public question-and-answer page reports approximately 12,462 Friday cancellations, while expressly warning that not all were directly caused by the ground stop. No completed public root-cause report, inspector-general finding or enacted new funding was identified by 3:05 p.m. EST November 15.
Dates & scope
Source publication: Nov 13, 2026 · 9:03 PM EST · Source update: 2026-11-15
Event or conduct: 2026-11-13.
Full chronology and review notes
The FAA's command center issued its national ground-stop advisory at 3:54 p.m. EST November 13, after officials said radar and communications instability began at about 3:36 p.m. The FAA said departures could resume shortly after 8:00 p.m. AP published its initial resumption report at 8:19 p.m., and ABC News updated its live report at 9:03 p.m. with the secretaries' White House briefing. In that evening briefing, Duffy publicly called for $50 billion in emergency funding. Reuters published its funding report November 14 at 6:02 a.m. EST. On November 15, the FAA published a question-and-answer update saying initial investigators had narrowed the data flooding to facilities in Amarillo, Texas, and El Dorado, Arkansas; the agency said it disabled the relevant broadcasting function on approximately 60 similar routers as a precaution while FAA and L3Harris continued to investigate the root cause. The Transportation Department separately published excerpts from Duffy's Sunday interviews, and Reuters published its recovery report at 11:49 a.m. EST. Trump also called on Congress for additional modernization funding in a Sunday social-media post; the precise time of that post was not available in the reviewed reporting. The Ledger reviewed those primary updates and same-day reporting at 3:05 p.m. EST November 15. The equipment instability, stop, resumption, technical mitigation, official statements, funding requests, news publications and Ledger source reviews occurred at distinct times.
This is a dated report. The source-review time records when the linked sources were checked; it is not a live update.
Coverage is non-exhaustive. Our source-review standards →
Open the original record.
- Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control System Command Center: ATCSCC Advisory 111: National Ground Stop ↗
Primary November 13 advisory ordering all departing traffic at all airports ground-stopped for safety reasons and providing the command-center event and effective times. It records the stop, not the later technical explanation or resumption.
- Associated Press: The Latest: FAA lifts nationwide ground stop on flights that halted travel across the US ↗
Updated November 13 report confirming that the FAA lifted the stop, tested systems before resuming departures, reported at least 600 diversions and warned of continuing disruption. It attributes the preliminary equipment explanation to administration officials.
- ABC News: FAA ground stop live updates: Duffy blames overloaded routers; thousands of flights canceled ↗
Updated November 13 at 9:03 p.m. EST with Duffy's description of overloaded routers and inconsistent data, Mullin's statement that no cyberattack was indicated but the investigation was continuing, and the officials' recovery warnings. The later-accessible Transportation Department transcript is the primary source for Duffy's statements; this report supplies contemporaneous context and Mullin's qualification.
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Transcript of Duffy and Mullin briefing after the FAA ground stop ↗
Primary November 13 transcript reviewed November 14. Duffy said the older analog switches and routers produced inconsistent data, said the airspace reopened at 8:15 p.m. EST and publicly asked Congress for $50 billion in emergency funding. The transcript records the administration's statements; it is not an independent technical finding or an enacted appropriation.
- Reuters: Trump official seeks $50 billion for air traffic control after outage ↗
Published November 14 at 6:02 a.m. EST after an earlier November 13 version. It reports Duffy's $50 billion public demand, the separate $30.1 billion written request and its itemization, Congress' previously approved $12.5 billion, committee responses and airline support. It does not report that Congress approved the new proposals.
- Federal Aviation Administration: Nationwide Ground Stop: Questions and Answers ↗
Primary November 15 update stating that 17 of 22 Air Route Traffic Control Centers experienced instability, identifying Amarillo and El Dorado as the initial investigation's two possible source locations, reporting the precautionary disabling of the relevant broadcasting function on approximately 60 similar routers and stating that FAA and L3Harris continue to investigate the root cause. The page is the agency's current account, not an independent or completed technical finding.
- U.S. Department of Transportation: Duffy provides Sunday update on airspace restoration and investigation ↗
Primary November 15 collection of excerpts from Duffy's Sunday television interviews. It records his statements about the L3Harris laboratory examination, the Amarillo and El Dorado routers, the continuing root-cause investigation, existing funding restrictions and the additional funding request; it is not a final technical report or congressional action.
- Reuters: US air travel disruptions continue into third day ↗
Published November 15 at 11:49 a.m. EST; independently reports continuing cancellations and delays, the precaution applied to roughly 60 routers, Duffy's unresolved root-cause account, Trump's funding statement and Democratic lawmakers' response. Operational counts were fluid and are not treated as final totals.
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