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Duffy says emergency procedures kept airborne flights safe during outage

The extended White House briefing explains how controllers managed aircraft already aloft, while warning that older equipment remains vulnerable to failure.

Channel: Al Araby Arabic channel ·

Arab worldStory of November 15, 2026Trari Newsroom

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0:10Mullin says passenger safety was maintained throughout the disruption.
4:23Duffy links the outage to aging infrastructure and asks Congress to fund a complete air traffic system overhaul.
9:33Officials say they have found no evidence of a cyberattack or foreign-state involvement.
12:00Duffy identifies older copper lines, routers and switches as the affected equipment, contrasting them with newer networks.
21:18Intermittent emergency communications helped controllers safely manage aircraft already airborne, Duffy says.
29:56Asked about another outage, Duffy says older hardware remains vulnerable until it is replaced.

Emergency procedures helped air traffic controllers manage thousands of aircraft already in the sky during the nationwide US departure halt, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says in an extended White House briefing carried by Qatar-based Al Araby TV News.

The broadcast opens with the Federal Aviation Administration lifting its ground stop. But the questions extend beyond restarting departures: how did controllers handle planes already flying, and could the system fail again?

Duffy says emergency communications worked intermittently, allowing controllers to handle airborne traffic safely. Pilots have procedures for such failures, he explains, while officials prioritized vital cargo and medical flights during the disruption. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin offers an unequivocal assurance: "The public was never at risk."

Duffy describes anomalies affecting radar and communications, locating the failure in older copper lines, routers and switches. He contrasts that equipment with newer high-speed networks that he says remained operational. His explanation places responsibility on air traffic control infrastructure rather than airline systems.

The briefing also becomes an argument for rebuilding that network. Duffy urges Congress to fund a replacement costing $50 billion, rejecting continued reliance on a patchwork of aging components. Asked about congressional action under Republican leadership, he says support from both parties is needed.

On whether the disruption could recur, his answer is less reassuring than the immediate safety message: older hardware remains prone to failure until it is replaced. Restoring service, in his account, is not the same as removing the underlying vulnerability.

Reporters also press officials about a possible cyberattack. Mullin says they have seen no evidence of one, and the officials report no evidence of foreign-state involvement. That is an account of the investigation's findings at the briefing, not a completed technical explanation.

Later questions cover medical transport, college sports charters and the separate tanker-riverboat collision near New Orleans. Officials distinguish that collision from the aviation outage before closing with praise for controllers and the FAA workforce.

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