Over 10,000 Travelers Experience Delays and Cancellations on Wednesday Due to an FAA Outage

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (702 Times, NV Globe) – For the first time since the terrorist attacks of September 11, every flight in the United States was grounded. More than 10,000 flights across the nation were delayed or canceled at one point.

Just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, FOX5 cameras at Harry Reid International Airport captured the moments before planes resumed flying. The ripple effects persisted for some passengers well beyond that point.

Chad Lewiston, a traveler, stated, “Our flight was supposed to leave at 6 a.m.”

Chad and Kelli Lewiston’s journey from Minnesota to Vegas took them from 6 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.

According to Chad Lewiston, “We sat for an hour on the plane, and then we were asked to exit the plane due to an FAA shutdown.”

The FAA’s notice to air missions system, which informs pilots of conditions that could compromise the safety of their flights, experienced an outage Wednesday morning at 3:30 a.m. that grounded thousands of flights.

According to Kelli Lewiston, “I looked out and saw one of the grounds people put chalks back under the wheels and I said we are not going anywhere.”

Additionally, significant delays occurred for other travelers, and for one traveler, it felt all too familiar.

Lina Edwards, a traveler, stated, “We had a flight scheduled for December 29th for New Year’s and it was cancelled.”

According to a traveler named Kathleen Walkmaster, “We just arrived about three and a half hours late.” Almost everything is wrong. We attempted to get into a spot for approximately 30 minutes while sitting on the runway.

Kelli and Chad Lewiston are content that they have finally arrived in Vegas.

Kelli Lewiston stated, “We were afraid because even if it was delayed or canceled, we might not have a way to get home due to the weather.” In Minnesota, numerous modes of transportation were cancelled.

Credits: FOX 5 VEGAS