The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon, halting departing flights at airports across Texas and the rest of the country.
The rare order affects major Texas airports, including Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Dallas Love Field, Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport and William P. Hobby Airport, as well as airports in Austin, San Antonio and elsewhere in the state.
The FAA said the ground stop was issued “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety,” but didn’t immediately provide a detailed explanation, according to CNN.
The agency directed all departing aircraft to remain on the ground until further notice, CNN reported. International flights arriving in the United States would be handled on a case-by-case basis.
It wasn’t immediately clear how long the ground stop would last or how many flights at Texas airports had been delayed or canceled.
Nationwide ground stops are extremely rare. The FAA last issued one in January 2023, when an outage involving a system used to alert pilots to potential hazards disrupted air travel across the country.
Before that, the FAA had not issued a nationwide ground stop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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