All flights were grounded late Friday afternoon, as the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop for all airports due to a communication issue affecting air traffic control. This includes Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay.

As reported by CNN and other major news outlets, the stop was "due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety."

Reporters in Washington D.C. were told by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin that the federal government is investigating, there was no indication yet that the incident was a "nefarious attack" and that everyone is safe.

"It's just a telecommunications outage as of now," he said during a media conference.

Mullin said the government will look into the root of the problem, and that "This isn't another 9/11. I cannot repeat that enough."

Shortly after the stop was issued, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an X statement that it was "due to a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers...FAA technicians are investigating the issue."

This is the second time since Sept. 11, 2001, that the FAA has ordered a nationwide ground stop. The last time was in 2023, when the FAA NOTAM system went down and pilots could not receive pre-departure paperwork.