The FAA cited “telecommunications issues” at a Minneapolis facility that handles air traffic across 333,000 square miles
Credit: Andrew Wevers/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A regional FAA equipment outage forced a ground stop at Minneapolis, causing flight delays and diversions across the Midwest
- The outage affected radar and air traffic control systems, halting departures and limiting arrivals at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport for hours
- Experts say the incident highlights the need to update the FAA’s outdated air traffic control technology
Plane passengers flying in and out of Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) faced hours-long delays yesterday as a regional Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “equipment outage” impacted flights across the Midwest.
A spokesperson for MSP tells PEOPLE the FAA issued a ground stop for the airport around 2:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, Aug. 6, citing a “regional FAA air traffic center equipment outage.”
According to ABC News, the disruptions occurred at a major facility that handles air traffic across 333,000 square miles. The system included both radar and air traffic control operations.
Credit: Stephen Maturen/Getty
The issue prompted MSP to halt all departures. It also caused problems with some arrivals, limiting the number of flights able to land. Flights coming in from other Midwestern states, like Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin, were diverted or held flight paths amid the outage.
Sierra Maatta, a passenger on board an incoming flight from Dublin, says her plane was delayed by nearly an hour during its approach. “It was kind of funny, because we were all like watching our movies, right? And then all the sudden, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! It went from like an hour and a half to three hours,’ ” she tells Minneapolis outlet KARE. She says her plane ended up rerouting to Pittsburgh “for a while” before turning back towards MSP.
“When you’re in the air, you’re just sort of are like, well, I guess I’ll watch another movie.”
The MSP spokesperson says the ground stop was eventually lifted around 4 p.m., after which airlines resumed operations.
An FAA spokesperson tells PEOPLE in a statement flights into and out of Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center’s airspace were paused due to “telecommunication issues.” However, those services have since been “fully restored and flights returned to normal.” The FAA confirmed it is investigating the cause.
As of 4:45 p.m. yesterday, the MSP website said there were 87 delayed departures, according to KSTP.
“This equipment is very, very old and very, very out of date in many cases,” Paul Jackson, a retired airline pilot tells KARE. “And the air traffic controllers do great work every day, working with antiquated equipment.”
“What stands out to me is that this is occurring or has occurred at the time when the FAA is going through a redo of the air traffic control system from soup to nuts, all the way,” he added. “And what this points to is that it’s overdue. It’s well overdue.”
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At the same time as the MSP ground stop, several neighboring communities reported internet outages, as well as Minnesota’s 511 travel information network and other state government websites, per KARE. However, it was not immediately clear if the disruptions were related to the FAA outage.
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