The Federal Aviation Administration ordered a nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon, directing departing aircraft at all U.S. airports — including Ronald Reagan Washington National, Washington Dulles International and Richmond International — to remain on the ground until further notice.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X at 4:16 p.m. ET that the stop followed “a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.” The FAA’s official account reposted Duffy’s statement at 4:18 p.m. ET. Duffy said FAA technicians were investigating the issue and that updates would follow.
An FAA command center advisory obtained by Flightradar24 said the order was issued “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety” and that inbound international flights would be managed case by case. Aircraft already in the air were allowed to continue to their destinations.
Flightradar24 reported the ground stop began at 3:54 p.m. ET. In a post at 4:19 p.m. ET, the flight-tracking service said 3,100 aircraft bound for U.S. airports were still airborne and that no additional aircraft were taking off.
Reagan National posted an alert on X at 4:26 p.m. ET telling travelers to expect delays because of the nationwide ground stop. The airport said its facilities remained open and urged passengers to check with their airline. Dulles posted the same alert at 4:28 p.m. ET.
The nationwide order also covers Richmond International Airport. As of about 5 p.m. ET, the airport had not posted a confirmation on its website or on an official social account that could be located.
The FAA had not announced when departures would resume. USA Today, citing the FAA advisory, reported that the order listed an effective period through 11:30 p.m. ET but still directed aircraft to remain grounded until further notice, and that the listed end time did not guarantee flights would resume by then.
FlightAware, cited by MPR News, said nearly 7,000 U.S. flights had been delayed or canceled. The FAA’s National Airspace System status page, checked at 5 p.m. ET, did not list separate ground-stop events for Reagan, Dulles or Richmond, and delay counts for those three airports were not immediately available.
Travelers with flights through Reagan, Dulles or Richmond should check directly with their airline before going to the airport.
