India, Nov. 14 -- A data overload in the telecoms network used by air traffic control centres across the US forced the country to halt departures nationwide for more than four hours on Friday, with officials saying the issues may have been linked to new software added to the system.

It was the third nationwide ground stop in the US this century, after the September 11, 2001, attacks and a computer failure in January 2023. More than 3,500 aircraft were in the air when the trouble began, transportation secretary Sean Duffy said. Homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin said no one was in danger.

The problems started at 3.36pm Eastern Time, when radar and communications at the centres that handle high-altitude traffic became unstable. ...