Hundreds of flights canceled at DFW as airlines recover from nationwide ground stop
National ground stop lifted as NTX flights remain delayed
The FAA's national ground stop was lifted late Friday evening after disrupting flights across the country. Long lines were seen at DFW Airport after the ground stop was lifted as passengers scrambled to figure out their travel plans. FOX 4's Amelia Jones and Peyton Yager have more.
DALLAS - Hundreds of flights were canceled at DFW Airport on Saturday as airlines work to recover from the nationwide ground stop issued Friday due to a "telecommunications outage."
Nationwide ground stop issued
What we know:
At about 3:36 p.m. on Friday, communications among air traffic control experienced "instability," Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy said during a Friday evening news conference.
"We didn't lose all telecom. We didn't lose all radar. But that instability, because of an abundance of caution and making sure we keep the American flier safe, we did the ground stop," Duffy said.
"So we have TDM, telecom. So this is analog telecom. Our switches, are routers actually got overloaded with data and they went down and, I shouldn't say they went down. They started to give us inconsistency in the data, from those, from those routers. And because of that, we shut the system down," Duffy added. "It's the old hardware, that went down."
A nationwide ground stop that lasted for over four hours on Friday as finally been lifted. (FAA)
Not ruling out cyberattack
Federal officials on Friday said the nationwide ground stop is being viewed as a national emergency and while they have no indicators that it was the result of a cyberattack and just the result of an aging system, they aren't ruling anything out.
"There is nothing that indicates it yet. Now, when we start looking at cyber threats, cyberattacks, typically some people is going to raise their hand up and say, hey, we did that. There's no chatter, we haven't seen any footprints, as you would say, or identifications of people that got into the system. It appears that this was mechanically driven. However, we're still looking, so we're not going to roll that out," DHS Sec. Markwayne Mullin said.
Aviation expert discusses nationwide ground stop
Expert explains FAA's nationwide ground stop
Steve Arroyo, an aviation safety expert, joined FOX 4 to discuss the natiowide ground stop issued by the FAA on Friday.
Steve Arroyo, an aviation safety expert, tells FOX 4 the situation is "extraordinary." A nationwide ground stop hasn't been issued like this since 9/11 in 2001, according to Arroyo.
He says it's "going to take a while" to get the ground stop sorted out.
Local airports impacted
Local perspective:
DFW Airport and Love Field acknowledged the ground stop on social media, advising passengers to check with their airlines for information on delays or cancellations.
DFW Airport reaction
FAA nationwide ground stop halts flights at DFW airports
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop due to a "telecommunications issue" on Friday, leaving passengers and flights at North Texas airports stranded. FOX 4's Peyton Yager has more from DFW Airport and Love Field.
More than 300 flights had been canceled at DFW Airport by Saturday morning, according to Flight Aware.
At DFW Airport's Terminal C, passengers were seen checking their phones for updates on their flights as they were going through security checkpoints.
Passengers with carry-on items only were being allowed to pass through security. Passengers who were attempting to check bags were forced to wait due to the ground stop.
DFW sports reporter Cash Sirois was boarding a flight on Friday when the ground stop hit. He spoke with FOX 4's Peyton Yager while his plane was heading back to the gate.
"We have been on the flight for an hour 45 minutes, an hour 40 minutes, pushed off from the gate, and they just told us that there was an electrical problem, and then we found out it was national," Sirois said."I don't even think the pilots actually said those words to us, but everybody knows on the flight."
Sirois says five minutes after his plane left the gate, the passengers were informed there was a "telecom issue."
"They said, 'It could be 10 minutes. It could be 30 minutes. We don't know. And I'll let you know as soon as I know.' It's been vague, and then we found the national news out through social media, and it just got around the plane, and people are sharing information, and, you know, it's just kind of, it is pretty chilling."
Sirois was finally able to leave his plane around 8 p.m., leaving him on the plane for around five hours on Friday.
Following the lifting of the nationwide ground stop, Peyton Yager captured long lines at DFW Airport's customer service.
We'd guess they'll continue to be lengthy for the next several hours, if not days.
Love Field reaction
About 50 flights had been canceled by Saturday morning at Dallas Love Field.
Julie Dreifaldt tells FOX 4 she was on her flight to get home to Denver out of Love Field. She's now rebooked a flight for tomorrow morning due to the ground stop.
"I just want to go home!"
Julie Dreifaldt
Ennis Kirkland was trying to get home to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He said he's waiting out at Love Field for a few more hours before reassessing his options.
"Like everyone else, I can't get home," Kirkland said. "You know, if I can't get there safely, it's not worth saving a couple hours, or even a day.
North Texas passengers describe nationwide ground stop
Passengers at both major North Texas airports are currently grounded after a nationwide ground stop was issued by the FAA on Friday. FOX 4's Amelia Jones and Steve Noviello have more on what stuck passengers are saying, and how you can save some money if you've gotten stuck.
This is a developing story. Updates will be added as they become available.
The Source: Information in this story comes from local Dallas-Fort Worth airports, the FAA, and interviews with passengers whose planes was halted due to the nationwide ground stop.