The FAA lifted the suspension at 8:15 p.m., while the company that developed the SMART platform denied that its technology was related to the incident that grounded more than 7,000 aircraft
SANTO DOMINGO. – An upgrade to the private communications network that connects the United States air traffic control system reportedly caused an infrastructure reboot and a communications outage that forced the suspension of flight departures across the country on Friday, November 13.
The information was published by CBS News, which cited several sources familiar with the incident. According to the American media outlet, the affected network is operated by L3Harris, a company specializing in technology and communications. CBS also indicated that it requested a statement from the company, but that no response had been received by the time of publication.
The new version offers a clue as to the origin of the outage that affected all 22 regional air traffic control centers and led the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to order a nationwide grounding of departing flights for safety reasons.
To date, the FAA has not released a technical report confirming this explanation nor has it officially determined the cause of the malfunction.
The SMART platform was also under scrutiny
The disruption raised questions about a possible relationship with SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes and Trajectories), a new artificial intelligence platform developed by Air Space Intelligence.
On November 10, three days before the incident, the FAA announced on its institutional website that it would extend the use of SMART to the 22 air route control centers in the country, after an initial implementation in the Washington region.
According to the description published by the agency, the platform operates in the cloud and centralizes approximately 200 data streams, including weather information, flight paths, traffic flow, and controller availability. Its purpose is to provide recommendations for improving airspace planning and management.
The coincidence between the national expansion of the tool and the interruption of communications raised questions about a possible link.
However, Air Space Intelligence expressly denied that its platform caused the incident. In a statement released on the social network X and reported by ABC News and other US media outlets, the company maintained that the suspension was not based on SMART nor was it a result of its products or its integration with the FAA and the air traffic control system.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin had indicated that authorities would examine the possible causes and that, at that time, they could not rule out any hypothesis. He also said there was no indication that the outage was due to a deliberate or cyberattack.
Information about the upgrade of the network operated by L3Harris was published by CBS News in its Friday night report, while the possible relationship with SMART remains without official confirmation.
The FAA resumed departures
The nationwide suspension was lifted Friday at 8:15 p.m. Eastern Time, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced during a press conference reported by CBS News.
“We have reopened the airspace,” said Duffy, who cautioned that the authorization to resume operations did not mean all flights would take off immediately. He explained that the recovery would be gradual and recommended that passengers check directly with their airlines.
The agency had ordered departures from US airports to be grounded after the communications disruption affected centers responsible for directing air traffic between airports.
The Associated Press reported that at least 827 flights had been diverted during the disruption. Additionally, approximately 11,000 flights, carrying more than 1.5 million passengers, were scheduled to depart from U.S. airports after 4:00 p.m. on Friday.
Although the authorization to resume departures was announced last night, airlines had to reorganize their operations due to accumulated delays, cancellations, and diversions.
The definitive cause of the interruption remains pending confirmation by US authorities.
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