US Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there are currently no indications that the technical failure that disrupted air traffic at airports across the United States was the result of a deliberate attack, noting that preliminary information points to a communications network outage.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House about the decision to suspend flight operations at airports nationwide, Mullin said: “There is no indication so far that this was a malicious attack. At this point, all we know is that there was an outage in the communications network.”
Investigation Underway to Determine the Cause of the Outage
Asked whether the incident could be linked to artificial intelligence or a cyberattack targeting aviation systems, the Homeland Security secretary noted that the last time air traffic was halted nationwide in the United States was during the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Mullin also sought to reassure the families of travelers, stressing that the disruption did not indicate a terrorist attack. “There is no need to worry about your loved ones who are traveling by air,” he said.
He added that the possibility of cyberattacks must always be considered, given their recurring nature, but emphasized that the actual cause of the outage has not yet been determined.
Mullin concluded by saying that authorities would continue investigating after communications were restored and aircraft already in the air were allowed to land, in an effort to identify the root cause of the disruption.
