FAA Orders Ground Stops at D.C.-Area Airports Over Strong Chemical Smell at Federal Aviation Facility

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officials issued ground stops at Ronald Reagan Washington National (DCA), Washington Dulles International (IAD) and Baltimore-Washington International (BWI) on Friday after a "strong chemical smell" was detected at the Potomac TRACON air traffic control facility, which the FAA said was "impacting some air traffic controllers."

“Local Maryland Best of WJZ at 9 Politics Consumer Business Health Entertainment First Alert Weather Radar & Maps Closings/Delays Weather Watchers All Sports CBS Sports HQ Ravens Orioles Terps College Sports Horse Racing Golf WJZ at 9 Community MVP Volunteer with WJZ WJZ and the Baltimore Banner HealthyMD WJZ Investigates AFRAM Black History Month About Us Meet The Team Contact Us Share A News Tip Links & Numbers Nominate An MVP Advertise With Us * Download The App Watch CBS News Three major airports in the Baltimore, DC region, including Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport (BWI), are currently under a ground stop advisory due to a strong chemical odor at an air traffic control service center in Potomac”

CBS News

Several outlets described the interruption as an "equipment outage" on FAA systems and reported the FAA announced the stops in a public statement while Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted details on X as the agency investigated the odor.

CBS News

The Potomac Consolidated TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia — the facility that provides approach and terminal radar services for the Baltimore-Washington and Richmond–Charlottesville corridors — was identified as the site of the odor.

Sources emphasized that its coverage includes Andrews, Reagan, Dulles, BWI and Richmond airports; that broad responsibility meant the outage prompted ground stops or delays at multiple airports within the TRACON’s airspace, including Richmond, Charlottesville-Albemarle and Manassas regional airports.

CNN

The ground stops began on Friday evening shortly after 5:30 p.m., according to multiple reports, and officials initially estimated the restrictions would remain in place until around 7–8 p.m.

“WASHINGTON - The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a ground stop for all flights out of D”

FOX 5 DC

By 7:45 p.m. the FAA had lifted the ground stops at the three major airports, though agencies warned that significant delays — in some cases an hour or more and into three hours overnight — would persist as the backlog cleared.

FAA and federal officials mobilized contingency measures while investigating the odor: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA was "working to address the source of the strong odor,"

FAA spokespeople described the event as affecting controller operations, and at least one report said the FAA began relocating controllers to a nearby training facility in an effort to restore some operations quickly; local authorities were contacted for comment but public updates focused on the FAA response and investigation.

Fox Business

The disruption had immediate passenger effects and produced advisories for travelers: reporters described passengers "huddled at gates" and airports "buzzing with discontent,"

“Flights were briefly halted at several Washington-area airports Friday after a strong chemical smell was reported at a nearby air traffic control facility, the Federal Aviation Administration said”

Scripps News

Outlets urged travelers to check airlines and FAA updates rather than assume departures would run on time, and at least one outlet noted there were no reported injuries even as the ripple effects extended to other facilities — Philadelphia had an unrelated equipment outage — and airlines and airport staff worked to manage rebookings and crowding.

Scripps News