FAA Telecom Outage Halts US Departures, Strands Ole Miss Before Game
The Federal Aviation Administration halted every departing flight in U.S. airspace on Friday afternoon after a major telecommunications problem began affecting all of its Air Route Traffic Control Centers around 3:00 p.m. CT, according to Yahoo Sports. The nationwide ground stop kept planes on the ground across the country, including a charter that was supposed to carry the Ole Miss football team to Oklahoma.
Yahoo Sports reported that this is only the third time a nationwide departure ground stop has ever been issued. The FAA has not disclosed what caused the telecommunications failure, and no restoration time had been announced when the report was published.
What failed at the FAA
Air Route Traffic Control Centers are the regional facilities that guide planes at cruising altitude between airports. When the communications problem reached all of them at once, the FAA stopped departures nationwide instead of sending more aircraft into a system its controllers could not fully manage. The order covered departing flights.
The agency’s orders applied to departures across the entire country, not one region or airport. Yahoo Sports did not report how many flights or passengers were affected.
Ole Miss team ordered off the plane
The Rebels were already on the tarmac, ready to leave for Norman, Okla., when they were told to unload and go home, according to Yahoo Sports. The team was then told to come back to its facility at 8:30 p.m. CT, after the first freeze on flights had passed.
Reports cited by the outlet say Ole Miss is trying to fly out of Tupelo, about 50 miles from Oxford. If the FAA clears the airspace late in the evening, the team could still reach Norman for Saturday’s 3:15 p.m. CT kickoff at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. If the outage drags into the late evening, Yahoo Sports said the game would likely be pushed to Sunday.
Driving is a poor fallback. The trip from Oxford to Norman is 550 miles and takes about 8 hours and 15 minutes heading west on I-40. Parham reported that Ole Miss does not plan to bus the team while it waits for FAA updates.
What it means for travelers and the game
Anyone booked on a domestic departure Friday afternoon was held on the ground while the order stood. For the game, the timing of the FAA’s fix decides the schedule. Less than 24 hours separated the grounded charter from kickoff. The SEC said in a short statement Friday night that it is in contact with its member schools and monitoring the situation, and Oklahoma said it remains in touch with Ole Miss and the conference.
A move to Sunday would be Oklahoma’s first Sunday game this season and its first since the 2019 opener against Houston at Owen Field. The Sooners are 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the SEC, and they are chasing a 28th straight bowl trip while trying to end a 3-0 series against Ole Miss.
Source: Yahoo Sports