India, Nov. 14 -- The Trump administration has blamed overloaded air traffic control systems for a communications failure that disrupted flights across the United States, forcing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to impose a nationwide ground stop that was later lifted.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said overloaded switches and routers contributed to the technical failure, which affected communications at multiple air route traffic control centres on Friday.

The FAA ordered airlines to suspend departures nationwide after the disruption raised safety concerns. The ground stop remained in place for more than four hours before being lifted on Friday evening.

Duffy said instability in radar and communications systems had affe...