IS HAL READING LIPS AGAIN?

 Weekly Opinion Editorial

GLITCH, HACK OR HAL?

by Steve Fair

 

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a rare nationwide ground stop on Friday November 13, 2026, halting all departing flights across the U.S. due to a telecommunications and air traffic control communication outage.  Secretary of Homeland Security MarkWayne Mullin, speaking outside the White House, around 4pm CDT stated the nationwide flight stoppage was caused by a "telecommunication outage" and emphasized there is no indication of a security threat or attack against the United States.  When pressed by reporters if the Air Traffic Control (ATC) system had been hacked, Mullin did not rule out the possibility and said every scenario was being looked at.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said its too early to predict when airlines will return to the skies.  They stated they want to fix the root cause of the issue and validate safety systems.  Most major carriers canceled their flights for Friday night,  Three observations:

First, it could take a week for the airlines to recover.  With the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and the cascading of canceled flights, airports will clog up like grease and hair can clog up a sink.  Since the stoppage only lasted hours, that may be less than it could have been.  It is a credit to the FAA and the airline industry that when the stoppage was implemented, all flights landed safely.

Second, the ATC systems are outdated.  The FAA has been relying on 1980s technology, floppy disks and Windows 95 software in more than 400 facilities across the country to handle aircraft traffic.  Much of the hardware is also aged and decades old.  Airline executives have been sounding the alarm that upgrades are long past due.

The FAA recently expanded its AI-powered air traffic management system, known as SMART (Strategic Management of Airspace, Routes, and Trajectories), to 22 air route traffic control centers nationwide.  The FAA denies SMART was the issue, but is it just a coincidence the nationwide ground stop happened soon after the launch?  Did the AI software read a human's lips like HAL?

Third, cyberattacks/hacks are a recognized risk to ATC.  Mullin said there was no indication the system had been hacked and that may prove to be true.  But aviation cybersecurity experts believe the current ATC system is vulnerable because of the vast networks of linking towers, satellites, weather centers and airlines.  They say the connectivity expands the attack surface for hackers. 

If the ATC system was hacked, what country would be the likely suspects?  The Russian hacker known as Killnet that has claimed credit for attacking air traffic control systems in Europe would be a prime suspect.  Chinese have state sponsored cyber and espionage networks that have targeted large-scale critical infrastructure in Western countries.  So does North Korea and Iran.  A comprehensive investigation should be conducted to find out the source of why the system hiccupped.

Commercial air travel remains statistically the safest mode of long-distance transportation.  Commercial aviation average 1 fatality per 16 million flights.  When compared to driving, a passenger is 200 times more likely to die in a motor vehicle crash than in a commercial airline accident.  U.S. enemies and domestic terrorists would like to change that.  Or maybe HAL?