In a phone interview with Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy, US President Donald Trump suggested that the nationwide grounding of flights across the United States was caused by outdated equipment relied upon by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). According to the journalist, the American leader made it clear during the conversation that the incident is related neither to a cyberattack nor to the use of artificial intelligence, pointing instead to infrastructural reasons behind the flight disruptions.
Assessing the Causes: "Old, Broken Equipment"
As Peter Doocy reported, Trump stated that the situation is most likely due to "a lot of old, broken equipment in the infrastructure that the FAA relies on to keep planes in the air." The president emphasized that some of this equipment has been in service for about 55 years while still being expected to operate normally. Thus, the head of the White House effectively shifted the focus away from external threats and toward the internal state of the nation's aviation infrastructure.
Cyberattack and AI Ruled Out
Of particular note is that Trump directly rejected the possibility of a cyberattack or artificial intelligence interference in air traffic control systems. At a time when any large-scale disruptions to US digital infrastructure automatically raise suspicions of a hacking breach, the president's public dismissal of these scenarios is significant for shaping the narrative around the incident. In essence, the administration is laying the groundwork to explain the flight disruptions as technical rather than external in nature.
The 55-Year-Old Fleet Problem and Congressional Inaction
Trump also stated that the issue of replacing outdated FAA equipment had previously been discussed with Congress but has not yet been carried out. Mentioning the 55-year operational lifespan of certain systems highlights the scale of infrastructural lag that, according to the president, lawmakers were made aware of. In effect, this statement also contains criticism directed at Congress for failing to translate allocated or discussed modernization funds into the actual replacement of hardware.
An Unusual Scenario: Rubio Returns to the White House
Correspondent Doocy also reported that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was attending a public event, returned early to the White House. According to the journalist, such a thing does not usually happen at this late hour. "They are getting the whole team together to make sure the president has accurate information and can determine next steps," Doocy explained. This indicates that operational coordination is underway within the administration to assess the scale of the incident and prepare potential measures.
Waiting for an Official Statement
At the time of publication, it was not known whether any official would make a public statement regarding the flight grounding. At the same time, members of the Trump administration were returning to the White House, and no end to the workday had been announced for the press. This suggests that the situation remains in an active phase, and more detailed explanations regarding the causes and the timeline for restoring regular domestic air travel are expected in the coming hours or days.
