FAA issues nationwide ground stop, college football teams’ travel plans impacted

As college football teams were getting ready to travel to their respective Week 11 games, the FAA issued a nationwide ground stop Friday afternoon. Multiple programs were impacted after the pause went into effect. The FAA issued the ground stop at 3:54 p.m. ET due to a communication issue, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said via social media. The issue impacted all Air Route Traffic Control centers and the FAS was investigating it. $39.99 gets you a FULL year of On3 | Rivals national coverage The FAA said in an advisory that the order was “due to extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety.” The advisory also said “all departing traffic should remain ground stopped until further notice” and inbound international flights would “be managed on a case by case basis.” No other information was included in the alert. In the meantime, a number of college football teams were waiting to fly to their destinations ahead of Saturday’s game. On3 is tracking the programs that have either been grounded, made it to their destination or are changing their travel plans as a result of the order. GroundedTennessee, via Chris Low (at Texas A&M, Noon ET)Texas, via Pete Nakos (at LSU, 7:30 p.m. ET)Tulane, via Pete Nakos (at Rice, 2 p.m. ET)Ole Miss, via Chris Low (at Oklahoma, 4:15 p.m. ET)Baylor, via The Athletic (at BYU, 3:30 p.m. ET)Kansas State, via Pete Nakos (at TCU, 2 p.m. ET)San Jose State, via Brett McMurphy (at Air Force, 7 p.m. ET)Washington, via SBJ (at Michigan State, 4:15 p.m. ET)Purdue, via Pete Nakos (at Iowa, 7:30 p.m. ET)Minnesota, via SBJ (at Penn State, 7 p.m. ET)Florida Atlantic, via SBJ (at Tulsa, 3:30 p.m. ET) In the airUSC, via Chris Low (at Indiana, 3:30 p.m. ET) LandedNebraska (at Rutgers, 12:30 p.m. ET)Florida (at Kentucky, 6:15 p.m. ET)Missouri, via Chris Low (at Georgia, 3:30 p.m. ET)Texas Tech (at Oklahoma State 9:30 p.m. ET)Duke, via Pete Nakos (at Miami, 12 p.m. ET)Northwestern, via Pete Nakos (at Ohio State, 12 p.m. ET)Wake Forest, via Pete Nakos (at SMU, 12 p.m. ET)Boston College, via Pete Nakos (at Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. ET)South Carolina, via Pete Nakos (at Arkansas, 7:45 p.m. ET)Louisville, via Pete Nakos (at North Carolina, 7 p.m. ET) Travel plans changedAuburn, via Pete Nakos (at Mississippi State, 12 p.m. ET) Friday’s nationwide ground stop is only the second one ordered by the FAA since Sept. 11, 2001, according to ABC News. It’s the first time since 2023 when the FAA’s NOTAM system went down, which meant pilots could not fill out their required pre-departure paperwork. Additionally, prior to the nationwide order, a ground stop was issued at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport due to an outage. That order came down at approx. 3:10 p.m. ET, roughly an hour before the nationwide ground stop went into effect. This is a breaking news story and will be updated.