Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says there is no indication the nationwide ground stop was an attack, and that all flights are accounted for. He is the first named cabinet-level official to say so on the record, after two unnamed law enforcement officials told CNN earlier that preliminary reports pointed away from a cyber attack.
TXK Today reports that Mullin spoke to reporters outside the White House shortly after 4pm ET on Friday 13 November, saying:
"There was no indication as of yet that this was a nefarious attack against us. It's just a telecommunications outage as of right now."
Fox Weather reports him adding: "This isn't another 9/11. There is no reason for the public to be afraid or scared for your loved ones." The wording of his remarks varies slightly between outlets.
Mullin said flights still in the air and inbound international flights would be handled case by case, using a priority list, according to TXK Today.
His statement is not a ruling out. Patch reports that officials did not suspect foul play but were not excluding it, and Mullin's own words are qualified with "as of yet" and "as of right now". Neither the FAA nor Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has given a cause beyond a communications issue affecting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. The claim that all flights are accounted for has not been independently checked.