Departing flights across the country are halted due to safety concerns, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced.
“The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports following a communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers. FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” Sean Duffy, the Secretary of Transportation, posted on Twitter on Friday afternoon.
The stop was issued at 3:53 p.m., per a WSJ report. Planes
in the air were allowed to continue flying.
With college basketball season underway, many teams are flying across the country to play games. There are a plethora of Division I teams that are stuck on the tarmac with games on the schedule for tomorrow.
A scheduled Saturday matchup between Cornell and UNCG in Ithaca has been postponed due to the Spartans not being able to depart from the Charlotte airport. Cornell announced in a press release that the two sides will work on rescheduling the game. Those talks, per sources, will commence when more information is available.
Here is the information related to teams flying — or being unable to fly — that Mid-Major Madness has learned in advance of a big weekend of college basketball games.
TEAMS KNOWN TO BE STUCK:
Stonehill: The Skyhawks are stuck in Dallas ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Texas Tech. They were set to take a connecting flight to Lubbock, but are figuring out alternate travel plans.
Idaho State: The Bengals are stuck on the tarmac in Idaho Falls. They were about to take off for Seattle ahead of tomorrow’s matchup with Seattle U.
TEAMS KNOWN TO NOT BE STUCK:
Utah Tech: The Trailblazers landed in Oakland around 5 p.m. for Saturday’s game against Cal.
Portland State: The Vikings arrived in San Francisco on Thursday night for Saturday’s game against the Dons.
Tulane: The Green Wave made it to Akron for their matchup with the Zips
Austin Peay: The Governors made it to Wichita for their matchup with the Shockers.
Utah Valley: Wolverines’ broadcaster Brice Larson confirmed that UVU had arrived in Reno for tomorrow’s matchup with Nevada.
St. Thomas: According to a social media post, the Tommies made it to West Point and had shootaround today for their matchup against Army on Saturday.
New Mexico: The Lobos posted on social media at 2:36 p.m. Eastern that they were “wheels up” to the Bay Area. Beat reporter Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Journal reported that the team arrived for Saturday’s marquee matchup against Santa Clara.
This story will be updated with further information.
