FAA blames Friday's ground stop on 'equipment issue' during telecoms network upgrade

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said initial investigations pointed to an issue with contractor L3Harris updating old tech at a remote location.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8091x5394+0+0/resize/8091x5394!/quality/85/format/webp/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9e%2F96%2Fe23d590f45f8bbd605875a794fb7%2Fgettyimages-2304485779.jpg' alt='A person looks at a departures board showing delays and cancellations at LaGuardia airport on November 13, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City.'/><p>Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said initial investigations pointed to an issue with contractor L3Harris updating old tech at a remote location.</p><p>(Image credit: Adam Gray)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=nx-s1-6040952' />