INCIDENT REPORT · CP-2026-018

FAA Nationwide Ground Stop

L4 · CRITICALCONFIRMEDNOT AN ATTACK

The FAA halted departures at all U.S. airports on the afternoon of Nov 13, 2026 after communication problems hit multiple Air Route Traffic Control Centers (up to 17 of 22, per FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford); the stop was lifted that evening after roughly four to five hours. On Nov 14 Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a preliminary investigation pointed to a router that began flooding the network during an L3Harris contractor upgrade (copper-to-fiber work) at a remote FAA site, while Bedford said there was 'zero evidence' of anything nefarious; the exact root cause remains under investigation.

Incident ID: CP-2026-018
Incident date: 13 NOV 2026
Detection date: 13 NOV 2026
Affected countries: United States
Plotted location: Washington, D.C., United States (Affected agency headquarters (FAA); disruption was nationwide)
Threat classification: Level 4 — CRITICAL
Classification rationale: Nationwide halt of U.S. air traffic, an essential service; cause preliminarily non-malicious but impact critical.
Attack type: Non-Malicious IT Failure
Nature: Non-malicious failure — not a cyberattack
Attack vector: Not publicly documented
Sectors: Transportation, Government
Critical infrastructure: Yes
Organizations affected: Federal Aviation Administration
Operational consequences: Thousands of flights were cancelled and delayed on Nov 13 (reported tallies range from about 8,000 to more than 9,000 cancellations), with more than 5,000 further cancellations on Nov 14; Bedford said about 12,000 flights were unable to recover. CNBC described it as the longest halt in U.S. flight departures since 9/11, and airlines expected full schedules to resume by Sunday evening (Nov 15).
Estimated financial impact: No reliably documented figure
Attribution (as stated): No official attribution recorded

SOURCE REFERENCES

RECORD CREATED 14 NOV 2026 · LAST UPDATED 14 NOV 2026 · Threat levels are editorial assessments, not official government ratings.

FAA Nationwide Ground Stop

L4 · CRITICALCONFIRMEDNOT AN ATTACK

Incident ID

CP-2026-018

Incident date

13 NOV 2026

Detection date

13 NOV 2026

Affected countries

United States

Plotted location

Washington, D.C., United States (Affected agency headquarters (FAA); disruption was nationwide)

Threat classification

Level 4 — CRITICAL

Classification rationale

Nationwide halt of U.S. air traffic, an essential service; cause preliminarily non-malicious but impact critical.

Attack type

Non-Malicious IT Failure

Nature

Non-malicious failure — not a cyberattack

Attack vector

Not publicly documented

Sectors

Transportation, Government

Critical infrastructure

Yes

Organizations affected

Federal Aviation Administration

Operational consequences

Thousands of flights were cancelled and delayed on Nov 13 (reported tallies range from about 8,000 to more than 9,000 cancellations), with more than 5,000 further cancellations on Nov 14; Bedford said about 12,000 flights were unable to recover. CNBC described it as the longest halt in U.S. flight departures since 9/11, and airlines expected full schedules to resume by Sunday evening (Nov 15).

Estimated financial impact

No reliably documented figure

Attribution (as stated)

No official attribution recorded