Wire reporting: (AP, via ClickOnDetroit)

The Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide halt on departing U.S. flights at 8:15 p.m. Eastern on Friday after a telecommunications problem at air traffic control centers, according to CBS News, the BBC, Al Jazeera and NPR^1,2,3,7.

The agency issued the ground stop at 3:54 p.m. EST, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety, the BBC reported¹. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said airspace reopened after systems were tested, and that some departures would resume slowly as crews and aircraft were out of position^2,5,8.

Duffy said routers in an aging air traffic control network overloaded and produced inconsistent data^2,3,4,7. NPR reported he described intermittent radar and communications outages and 1980s copper lines that failed everywhere⁷. Engadget reported he identified analog TDM telecom as the layer that failed and said already-replaced equipment was not affected⁴. Al Jazeera said the problem reached all 22 air route traffic control centers and that radar and communications were not completely lost³.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication of an attack or a cyberattack, while saying agencies were still reviewing the incident^1,2,3,7. CBS News said sources described an update on a private network associated with L3Harris; the company did not immediately comment².

Flight-tracking counts differed. The BBC cited FlightAware for more than 8,500 delays and nearly 8,000 cancellations Friday¹. CBS News cited FlightAware for more than 10,000 delays and over 4,000 cancellations². NPR, citing FlightAware as of 9 p.m. ET Friday, reported more than 8,000 delays and 7,000 cancellations⁷. Euronews said FlightAware later listed more than 8,860 U.S.-related cancellations Friday and about 2,650 more Saturday⁸.

Duffy called on Congress for more modernization funding^2,4. Al Jazeera and NPR reported Air Space Intelligence said its SMART system was not the cause^3,7. NPR said Sen. Richard Blumenthal sought an investigation⁷. United, Delta and American said they were resuming operations, Euronews reported⁸. A completed official finding on the trigger was not in the coverage^2,3,7.

ClickOnDetroit carried an Associated Press report Saturday that more than 2,000 flights were canceled as airlines worked through the backlog, with a limited number of domestic departures after the 8:15 p.m. ET lift and officials saying operations were expected to be normal by the Thanksgiving rush²⁰.