(Photo courtesy of Anadolu)
WASHINGTON – Microsoft said Friday it had found no indication that a nationwide ground stop affecting flights across the United States was connected to disruptions in its services.
“We have no indication that the FAA’s nationwide ground stop is related to any Microsoft services,” the technology company said in a statement posted on social media platform X.
The clarification came after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) temporarily halted flights nationwide following a telecommunications outage affecting Air Route Traffic Control Centers.
The disruption occurred as Microsoft was experiencing a separate global outage that affected its email platforms and other online services.
Microsoft attributed its service disruption to several servers unexpectedly going offline, increasing pressure on the remaining operational systems.
The FAA said the nationwide ground stop was implemented as a precautionary measure while authorities assessed the communications problem.
The agency confirmed that all flights had been accounted for and said international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating the communications issue and would provide further updates as more information became available.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no reason to believe the aviation disruption was connected to Microsoft’s outage.
The FAA and other federal authorities continued investigating the cause of the telecommunications failure, while Microsoft maintained that its service problems were unrelated to the nationwide flight restrictions.
