Ground stop leaves 1,913 US flights cancelled and over 10,000 delayed, travellers stranded at airports

As of 6:04pm on Friday, 1,913 flights had been cancelled and 10,494 flights delayed nationwide amid the Federal Aviation Administration's nationwide ground stop, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. The number was expected to increase through the night as the telecommunications issue persisted.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House on Friday afternoon, 'It's just a telecommunications outage as of now.' He said there was no indication of a nefarious act and no threat to the United States, and that the government will look into the root of the problem.

The company ASI said in a statement that the current ground stop is not based on or a result of its SMART system, any of its products, or its integration with the FAA and air traffic control.

Hundreds of thousands of travellers across America found themselves stuck in airports or heading home on Friday. At Chicago's O'Hare, Frank Foto, 34, worried his family would not make it to Miami in time to board a cruise ship; the trip had been planned months ago to celebrate his mother-in-law's 60th birthday. Gesturing toward his infant son, he said, 'On the bright side, I suppose it's better than being stuck at sea.'

Drew Armstrong, 45, of New York, was 34,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from London to Kennedy Airport when he read about the ground stop on social media. Minutes later the flight crew informed passengers of the situation and said pilots were attempting to land all airborne international flights. Armstrong, seated in the 44th row, said in a text message from the air that people awoke from naps and began pacing the cabin.

In Atlanta, Ashley Van Mills, 45, arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport hoping to catch an evening flight to Chicago. 'We've been flying for I don't know how many years, and this doesn't happen,' she said. 'It's just the unknown that gives you an uneasy feeling.'

FlightAware's early-evening count already put more than 10,000 flights in or out of American airspace as delayed and at least 1,700 as cancelled; by the 6:04pm update the cancellations had risen to 1,913.

Travellers whose flight is cancelled are entitled to a refund regardless of the reason. The same applies if a flight is significantly delayed or changed and the traveller decides not to take it.

The outage comes about two weeks before Thanksgiving, one of the busiest times of the year for air travel. US airlines are expected to fly about 2.7 million passengers each day over the holiday period, according to industry trade group Airlines for America.