Rare nationwide ground stop ordered at airports, including Philadelphia International Airport: FAA

This story originally appeared on 6abc.

The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop on Friday for all airlines, including Philadelphia International Airport, due to a communications issue.

Secretary Sean Duffy says the issue is impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers, which are responsible for all flights above 18,000 feet. There are 22 of those centers in the U.S.

“Due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety. Attention all aircraft operators, by order of the Federal Aviation Command Center, all airports are ground stopped,” FAA officials said.

Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication yet that “this was a nefarious attack against us. It’s just a telecommunications outage.”

“Everybody’s safe. There’s no reason to be concerned about your loved ones if they’re flying,” Mullin said.