A student pilot on his first solo cross-country flight landed safely after a nationwide FAA ground stop was imposed following a communications network failure. The halt lasted more than four hours, stranded tens of thousands of travelers and disrupted flights across the country.
A student pilot flying solo from Hicks Airfield near Fort Worth was told a nationwide ground stop was in effect and asked to land. An air traffic controller guided him around other aircraft and talked him through the return; the plane landed safely minutes later.
The FAA halted departures for more than four hours on Friday after a communications network failure, when about 4,000 aircraft were in the skies. All landed safely despite controllers having only partial radar and communications capabilities. US air travel was not expected to return to normal schedules until late Sunday, and airlines warned that displaced aircraft and crews could cause cancellations through the weekend.
Tens of thousands of travelers were stranded, with airports facing cancellations and long lines. On a Southwest Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Orlando that departed before the stop was declared, Hoobastank, Simple Plan, The Used and singer LØLØ performed an impromptu concert using the passenger-address system.
