: Flights across the United States gradually resumed on Friday night after a technical problem in the country's air traffic control system forced authorities to suspend departures for five hours. Officials said newly installed technology had overloaded older systems, disrupting communication and radar services and triggering the longest nationwide flight ground stop in 25 years.
 

The disruption affected thousands of flights across the country and potentially more than one million passengers. Most aircraft were prevented from taking off from US airports while aviation authorities worked to restore normal operations.
 

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there had been no immediate danger to passengers, as more than 3,000 aircraft had been brought down safely. However, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he could not guarantee that a similar incident would not happen again.
 

Mullin clarified that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had been installing new equipment and technology, which placed additional pressure on the older systems. He added that there was no indication of a cyberattack or deliberate interference behind the disruption.
 

Following the lifting of the ground stop on Friday evening, a limited number of domestic flights began departing. However, airlines could take several days to return to normal operations.
 

According to aviation analytics company Cirium, at least 827 flights were diverted during the disruption. Of these, 670 were sent back to their departure airports, while another 157 were redirected to different airports.
 

Around 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the disruption occurred. That number subsequently dropped to fewer than 400 as the situation unfolded.
 

The disruption left thousands of passengers stranded at several major airports, including Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. It also affected sports teams travelling for NBA, NHL, NFL and college competitions, along with cargo operations operated by companies such as FedEx.
 

Despite the nationwide aviation disruption, SpaceX successfully carried out a test launch of its Starship rocket from Texas on Friday afternoon.
 

Aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said the incident was different from the nationwide flight shutdown following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In this case, aircraft were not ordered to land immediately, and pilots remained able to communicate with airport ground controllers.
 

The latest disruption comes after another major aviation incident in January 2023, when a computer system failure at the FAA forced flights across the United States to be temporarily grounded.
 

The latest episode has once again highlighted the challenges of maintaining reliable air traffic operations while upgrading the technology used to manage the country's aviation network.