On Monday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued ground stops at three major East Coast airports, those being Philadelphia International Airport, Newark International Airport, and Teterboro Airport. The shutdown is said to be due to an equipment outage in the Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) systems. This has caused some serious delays in traffic into and out of the region. Note: This does not mean that all flights are shut down; only that a limited number of aircraft may arrive and depart at any given time.
What we know:
In an alert posted to the National Aviation Administration's website, the ground stop is said to have started just before 10 a.m.
"Departures to Philadelphia International Airport are grounded due to equipment outage," the alert read.
Officials believe the outage has the potential to be extended.
Departures are delayed an average of 151 minutes, according to an update.
FlightAware says there are currently more than 300 delays at the airport, including 43 cancellations.
Big picture view:
Newark International Airport and Teterboro Airport are also under a ground stop, according to the FAA.
Another account has some more details.
Thousands of flyers had their travel plans disrupted Monday after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a ground stop at Newark Liberty, Teterboro and Philadelphia airports.
Dozens of planes were left idling on runways while the FAA said it was contending with a technology breakdown at Philadelphia’s Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, facility.
The ground stop at Newark began shortly after 10 a.m. — after the ground stops at Teterboro and Philadelphia went into effect.
The result was departure delays of up to 150 minutes out of Newark and Philadelphia, according to the FAA’s website.
"The FAA is pausing flights into Philadelphia International, Teterboro and Newark Liberty International airports due to issues with some frequencies at Philadelphia TRACON," an FAA alert read.
TRACON is an approach and terminal control system, an air traffic control radar system that controls Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) traffic in terminal approach, in other words, while landing. You can view the live statuses of these and other airports here.
What's interesting about the timing of this is that diplomats from around the world are convening this week in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. These are among the airports most of these people will be arriving at. Depending on how long the ground stop is in place and how long the delays stretch out, this could affect proceedings, and may cause some of the arriving diplomats to alternative destinations.
As of this time, FAA hasn't released any information as to what happened, what may have caused the outage, or when the ground stop is expected to be lifted. Stay tuned.
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