FAA ground stop: How is Tampa International Airport impacted?
TAMPA, Fla. - Tampa International Airport is seeing all its departing flights halted Friday due to the FAA's nationwide ground stop.
Tampa International flight disruptions
What we know:
While departing flights are halted at TPA, inbound flights that are en route are still able to land at TPA. The airport is still open, but FOX 13 crews are seeing passengers not able to go on trams to the terminals anymore.
By the numbers:
As of 6:20 p.m. Friday, TPA was reporting 194 of its 534 flights were delayed and 31 of them have been canceled. Airport officials are asking travelers to contact their airlines for the latest information on their flights.
FAA nationwide ground stop
The backstory:
The FAA issued the nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon, citing a "temporary telecommunications outage." They said it was out of an abundance of caution that all flights were halted.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullins assured reporters that the ground stop issuance was not because Americans' safety were at risk.
"We have a ground stoppage, we still got to get the flights out. Right. And so we're going to be dealing with those case by case. I think he said specific. It's a telecommunication outage. I'm not going to get ahead of FAA. That's their lane to talk about. We were wanting to assure all the American people this isn't a safety to the American people or another 9/11 I think that's what a lot of people are trying to make the comparison to, and that's not the case," he said
What we don't know:
Currently, there is no timeline for when the nationwide ground stop could be lifted.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Tampa International Airport officials, who provided flight delay and cancellation data, as well as the Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullins and observations from FOX 13 crews at the airport.