Oh, good Lord. This is something else, and how horrible.
First things first, the ground stop - the only one since the complete cessation of air traffic after 9/11.
Planes in the air are still landing as scheduled; however, they are not being diverted. So that's hopefully indicative of a technical issue vice something malevolent.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Friday on social media that “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers” led the FAA to issue a rare nationwide ground stop on all departing flights. https://t.co/5rMRHeQ9Tn
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 13, 2026
They're attributing it to a complete telecommunications outage.
Issued by the FAA just moments ago, ALL US airports are currently ground stopped. This means NO flights may depart for US airports. Flights already in the air will be allowed to land. This is related to an FAA equipment outage. https://t.co/wgyuOXeF0k
— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) November 13, 2026
This may well be the issue here. They were scheduled to begin bringing the FAA systems out of the Stone Age yesterday, and, rather than the ongoing issues with Microsoft across the country, folks are kind of thinking that beginning to integrate shiny new software with the ancient systems that our flight programs have been running on ran into a few burps.
gonna guess there high probability that the FAA grounding all flights in the US is related to an $875m AI tool it built called SMART that will “assist in managing air traffic across the entire national air system” that the administration started rolling out….yesteday https://t.co/ThbCkf33nj
— Trung Phan (@TrungTPhan) November 13, 2026
I can't imagine how archaic some of the software is out there. As this person being interviewed says, much of it has been a piecemeal mishmash over the decades.
It's a Frankenstein of 'pieces and puffs.'
Schiavo: What's interesting to me about the ground stop is the FAA had also announced that it was about to deploy their new tool called SMART, to assist in managing air traffic across the entire national airspace system… I don't know if they're linked, but it's just too much coincidence that they were trying to start that moving today. And now we have problems with the system. And that would be my guess that they are having computer issues by putting the new software in with the old
— Acyn (@Acyn) November 13, 2026
...I don't know if they're linked, but it's just too much coincidence that they were trying to start that moving today. And now we have problems with the system.
And that would be my guess that they are having computer issues by putting the new software in with the old
Others are saying that the 'telecommunications' glitch crippling things has nothing to do with the new update. So we'll see once they figure it out, I guess.
The horrifying news is in the Mississippi River right now, dockside in New Orleans.
An asphalt tanker somehow struck a docked river cruise liner, and it's the most ghastly scene you can imagine.
Watch the moment a tanker struck a cruise ship in New Orleans. Rescues are underway. 📷: Kern Studios https://t.co/ZPspGtM0Yr https://t.co/O1qGr8kImf
— wdsu (@wdsu) November 13, 2026
Oh, dear God.
Many of you will recognize right where that ship is. I've been there so many times myself.
BREAKING: A tanker struck a river cruise on the Mississippi River near the Port of New Orleans Friday, partially submerging the passenger boat. Rescues were underway as the cruise ship has up to 129 people aboard. https://t.co/1YqQMP4St2
— CBS News (@CBSNews) November 13, 2026
Oh, my heart goes out to them.
...At 12:30 p.m. the Atlantic Asphalt tanker collided with the American Cruise Lines’ American Heritage while the cruise ship was docked on the Mississippi River outside 1350 Port of New Orleans Place.
The American Heritage had docked approximately two hours earlier to begin passenger disembarkation, according to Port NOLA.
At the time of the incident, approximately 129 passengers, in addition to crew members, were aboard the American Heritage.
According to city officials, more than a dozen people have been taken to area hospitals following the collision.
Rescues are underway, and at least 12 people are unaccounted for at this time.
People are clinging to the rails on the elevated starboard side as frantic first responders work to pluck them off.
Absolutely insane. The American Heritage when the Atlantic Asphalt collision happened in New Orleans. Rare footage + Inside picture https://t.co/cQ9ZeTHy5Y
— Chand Dev (@ChandDevIP) November 13, 2026
On the riverside, crews on tugboats and dinghies are working like mad to pull people out.
Multiple people rescued after tanker collides with cruise ship on the Mississippi River. Credit: Devon Flanagan https://t.co/ZPspGtLt8T https://t.co/O20q9JPuFe
— wdsu (@wdsu) November 13, 2026
Oh, it's a massive effort.
Drone video shows water rescue after a tanker collided with a cruise ship on the Mississippi River on Friday.https://t.co/ZPspGtM0Yr pic.twitter.com/kuNhRETEQw
— wdsu (@wdsu) November 13, 2026
And in the miracle of miracles, this update was announced a minute ago - everyone's accounted for, and there were NO FATALITIES.
New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno says all passengers are accounted for, no fatalities after cruise ship collision. https://t.co/ZPspGtM0Yr https://t.co/4LbWu8yDl0
— wdsu (@wdsu) November 13, 2026
Thirty-two people were injured, no word on how seriously. The governor's working with local authorities to get hotel rooms and replacement medicines, etc., for everyone on board.
It truly is amazing when you see how the tanker hid amidships. And now the Heritage is lying on her side in the river.
Hopefully there are no serious injuries among those who are hospitalized. My friend, Captain John Konrad, explains that the tug seen in the video must have come up immediately after the crash. Also, the interesting difference between a COLlision and an ILLision.
This video is misleading at first. Let me explain why… https://t.co/2hzfCkPY3T pic.twitter.com/gyFO07bpph
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) November 13, 2026
And then the maritime brain trust goes to work.
Three very different possibilities: 1) Mechanical failure. The crew reacted quickly, dropping anchor to slow the ship. 2) The anchor slipped during the bridge approach, shifting the pivot point forward and increasing the rate of turn. 3) Both. Crews don’t practice purposely dropping anchor often so it’s possible a mechanical failure caused the captain to order the anchor dropped and the helmsman was not prepared for the faster rate of turn. Also… why didn’t they have tugboats alongside? Why did we never have the public hearing after the Baltimore Bridge collapse in 2024. We had a brief NTSB report but no drawn out public hearing like we saw after the El Faro, Deepwater Horizon and Marine Electric. Those hearings are important to find hidden lessons learned but neither the Biden nor the Trump administration was eager to hold one. BTW, Captain Jeremy is an excellent follow.
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) November 13, 2026
...3) Both. Crews don’t practice purposely dropping anchor often so it’s possible a mechanical failure caused the captain to order the anchor dropped and the helmsman was not prepared for the faster rate of turn.
Also… why didn’t they have tugboats alongside?
Why did we never have the public hearing after the Baltimore Bridge collapse in 2024. We had a brief NTSB report but no drawn out public hearing like we saw after the El Faro, Deepwater Horizon and Marine Electric.
Those hearings are important to find hidden lessons learned but neither the Biden nor the Trump administration was eager to hold one.
More here for those who appreciate a deeper dive.
Few will realize all the true dangers in this video. This is a MAJOR incident. https://t.co/NGnTUT8mad pic.twitter.com/3qDCV9RKJl
— John Ʌ Konrad V (@johnkonrad) November 13, 2026
This was my Friday happy ending, I guess. What a scary hour and a half.
As for the friendly skies...
The sky over the US is emptying. 2,229 passenger planes were in the air over the lower 48 at 3:50 PM ET. At 3:53, the FAA stopped every departure. By 5:08, only 778 were left. The FAA says it's a telecom outage. The ground stop is still in place. We're watching it. https://t.co/4IlXqzHCNW
— Ryan Hall, Y’all (@ryanhallyall) November 13, 2026
...hopefully they get that straightened out quickly.
As for what caused it, I have an idea...
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