The US Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) on Friday issued a national ground stop, citing “extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety”.




The FAA directed all departing flights to remain grounded until further notice, while inbound international flights would be handled on a case-by-case basis.




The agency had earlier announced a ground stop at Chicago O'Hare International Airport due to a communications issue, according to its website.




The FAA said equipment outages could lead to airborne holding at airports across the country's national airspace system.



This is a developing story