ARLINGTON, Va. – Americans traveling through Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport expressed their frustrations and safety concerns after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded all domestic flights Wednesday morning.
“I travel a great deal,” said Sharon, whose flight to Puerto Rico was canceled. “The only other time that I’ve seen it sort of like this was 9/11 when everything shut down.”
Sharon told Fox News that her business flight to Puerto Rico was canceled.
(Fox News Digital / Jon Michael Raasch)
Almost every traveler Fox News interviewed said their flights were either delayed or canceled.
Dibya said his flight “got delayed for one hour and then another hour and then another hour. And now it said it got canceled.”
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The FAA grounded all domestic flights for hours Wednesday morning after the agency’s computer system that issues safety alerts experienced an outage. The White House announced that President Biden was briefed on the issue and said there’s no evidence it was caused by a cyberattack.
Almost every flight out of Washington National Airport was delayed or canceled as of 9:00 am ET.
(Fox News Digital / Jon Michael Raasch)
Some travelers had concerns about the safety of flights resuming.
“I feel pretty safe, but I was a little concerned when I heard the news this morning,” one traveler, Bob, said.
FAA GROUND STOP, SEVERE WEATHER THREAT MAY HAVE LASTING RIPPLE EFFECT ON FLIGHT DELAYS ACROSS US
Alberto, who works in IT, told Fox News: “Many of these systems are still running on technologies that are decades old and they need to be updated.”
“It’s a huge investment and people are also afraid to touch these very complex systems,” he continued.
The line for security at Washington National Airport on Wednesday morning.
(Fox News Digital / Jon Michael Raasch)
Other travelers pointed to broader issues.
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“This is an operation at the transportation level,” Richard told Fox News. “It just shows the lack of leadership.”
Sharon said: “With all the technology and what’s going on, we shouldn’t be having this kind of ground stoppage throughout the country. And I’m hoping that the administration gets it fixed and get it fixed quickly.”
To see travelers’ full interviews, click here.
Danielle Wallace and Ramiro Vargas contributed to this report.
