Nationwide ground stop lifted, but many at Tampa International had flights canceled, delayed

Eric Byrd was getting ready to board his flight from Tampa International Airport to Los Angeles on Friday afternoon when attendants asked everyone to sit back down. After nearly an hour waiting at his gate, news came out that the Federal Adon’t know what’s going on,” Byrd, 24, said. He shrugged. “It’s literally out of my control.” It was just the second time the FAA has grounded flights nationwide since the Sept

11 attacks in 2001. Officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications problems at regional air traffic control centers. Hundreds of people at Tampa International milled in the main terminal as nearly half of Friday’s flights from the airport were delayed or canceled. Many people were glued to their phones, on calls with loved ones or like Byrd, checking on refunds.

Some waited on their spouses or parents or Ubers to pick them up.The FAA finally lifted the ground stop around 8:30 p.m., about four hours after it started.“Hopefully everybody gets home,” said Laura Sheridan, who was waiting on her husband to pick her up from the airport.Air traffic control systems at Tampa International Airport were working normally Friday afternoon. But all outbound flights were grounded, spokesperson Beau Zimmer told the Tampa Bay Times around 4:30 p.m..

This is not an issue that we have

“This is not an issue that we have any control over,” Zimmer said.Both Tampa International and St. Pete-Clearwater International remained open throughout the ground stop.Officials at both airports encouraged travelers to check with their airlines about their flight status. Screens at Tampa International around 8:30 p.m. continued to say departures were delayed or canceled for the night, but some airsides were reopened for travelers.

At least 96 flights were canceled, with another 156 delayed, the airport’s website said as of 9 p.m .The FAA first ordered all flights nationwide be grounded around 4 p.m. Friday. The agency later said it imposed the restrictions “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” The agency was investigating a communication issue affecting the 22 regional air traffic control centers that direct planes en route between airports nationwide, said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told reporters at the White House that there was no indication yet that “this was a nefarious attack against us.

It’s just a telecommunications outage.”At a briefing later Friday night, Mullin said there wasn’t yet an indication that the FAA communications failure was related to a cyberattack.“We have seen zero evidence that this was a cyberattack or a SI attack,” Mullin said. SI is super intelligence, the Trump administration’s word for artificial intelligence. Sheridan, who has lived in Tampa for about 20 years, said she was heading to St.

Louis to help her mom move

Louis to help her mom move. She got to the airport around 4:15 p.m. for her flight in a couple of hours. Her airline later said her flight was canceled. “I don’t even know yet,” Sheridan said when asked what her next steps were. At Friday night’s briefing, Duffy and Mullin said the outage is another indication of older equipment. “We have old switches, old routers, we use 1980s little copper lines,” Duffy said.

“It’s an old system that went down. It went down everywhere. It got overloaded.”The nationwide ground stop was the first since January 2023, when a key FAA computer system malfunctioned. Duffy said he didn’t want to fully rule out “nefarious activity.”Mullin added that “there’s nothing completely certain right now,” but there were no “footprints” showing an attack.

It appeared to be “mechanically-driven,” Mullin said. “We’re still looking. So we’re not going to rule that out,” Mullin added.The government has been working to overhaul the outdated technology that air traffic controllers rely on since Congress approved $12.5 billion for the project last year. Miles of old copper wires have been replaced with fiber optic lines, and old radio systems are gradually being replaced at airports across the country.But much work remains.

Duffy has said that another $30 billion will

Duffy has said that another $30 billion will be needed to complete the work, and the White House has begun lobbying Congress to approve it.The problem appeared similar to a regional air traffic control communication outage in September that snarled hundreds of flights across the Northeast, aviation safety expert Steve Arroyo said, except this time on a nationwide scale. It may be linked to the outdated technology used by air traffic controllers.“If you don’t have that ability, whether it’s because the old wires that they have are just run down or for whatever reason, you’ve got to stop airplanes on the ground,” said Arroyo, who is a former United Airlines pilot.

“And not put them in the air where you’re going to risk not being able to communicate with them.”Friday’s ground stop was different than the one after the Sept. 11 attacks because planes were not being told to land immediately and pilots likely were able to communicate with ground controllers at airports, Arroyo said.At Tampa International Airport on Friday, as some adults dozed or continued calling loved ones, kids played around Phoebe, the airport’s unofficial mascot.

The giant pink flamingo has become a regular attraction.That much was true for a trio of travelers who took a photo with Phoebe. Jennette Nuss and Jean Baird were heading to Houston to see Nuss’ grandson. Chris Baird, Jean’s son, was heading home to Detroit.“Doesn’t look like we’re going to make it,” Nuss said with a laugh. Chris Baird said he had already called his boss to take off the next day.

Byrd, who was trying to get a refund for tickets to a music carnival hosted by Tyler, the Creator he planned to attend in Los Angeles, said it seemed like a rough combination of bad luck.Nuss agreed.“It’s been a Friday the 13th,” she said. Information from the Associated Press supplements this report.