A ground stop at all three major D.C.-area airports was lifted Friday after a “strong chemical smell” at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Virginia impacted operations.
The ground stop originally came into effect around 5:30 p.m. at Reagan National, Dulles International and BWI Marshall airports, as well as the Charlottesville-Albemarle and Richmond International airports. The airports continued to face ground delays after the order was lifted.
In a statement to WTOP, the FAA said the ground stops were due to a “strong chemical smell” at the Potomac Consolidated Terminal RADAR Approach Control in Virginia, affecting some air traffic controllers. No injuries were reported.
The Potomac Consolidated TRACON site provides air traffic control services to the Baltimore-Washington and Richmond-Charlottesville areas.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a post on X that the strong odor was caused by a circuit board that overheated. He said it’s been replaced and air traffic controllers have been cleared to return to the building.
Between 25% and one-third of all flights departing from the affected airports were delayed after the ground stop.
“There’s going to be ripple effects all night long because the delays were growing by the second, it looked like,” said Tom Roussey, a transportation reporter with WTOP news partner 7News.
The TRACON facility is an FAA site that works with the regional airports. Roussey said with the way flights are scheduled, “if anything throws them off, it creates a ripple effect, and I’m sure they’ll be dealing with this the rest of the night, maybe even into tomorrow.”
Fauquier County Fire Rescue System said in a release Friday night that crews were alerted to a “potential hazardous materials incident” after personnel reported a strong smell of chemicals inside the facility. Prince William County’s hazardous materials team also responded to the incident.
Chief Kalvyn Smith said in the release that some employees had “mild symptoms” when they were evaluated by EMS, with none requiring transport to a local hospital.
WTOP anchor Mark Lewis was caught at Reagan National, where his flight was meant to depart at 5 p.m. It wasn’t until 7 p.m. that he reported the plane’s engine turned on and the pilot began taxiing. He said the whole flight applauded when they heard the good news.
WTOP listeners have reported sitting on tarmacs for long periods of time or deboarding altogether.
One listener told WTOP they were in line to takeoff when their pilot came on the overhead radio to inform passengers of the ground stop. They sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes until the plane returned to its departure gate where passengers deplaned. A Southwest flight had originally been scheduled to takeoff at 4:35 p.m., only starting reboarding procedures around 7:30 p.m.
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