COLUMBIA — Gates reopened at Columbia Regional Airport around 7:30 p.m. Friday after the Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop.
About 30 minutes later, an announcement told passengers that boarding was beginning for an Allegiant Air flight to Destin, Florida. That flight departed about 8:30pm.
All other remaining Friday departures were canceled, including the 7:48 p.m. American Airlines flight to Dallas-Fort Worth, according to the airport’s flight status page.
The terminal was mostly empty by then, and a few travelers told KOMU 8 News they were tired and frustrated.
The rest of the night’s arrivals were held but departures are expected to resume early in the morning. And arrivals by about 10am.
Earlier Friday, passengers on a United Airlines flight to Chicago O’Hare told KOMU 8 News their plane was on the tarmac when it returned to the gate shortly before 3 p.m.
The captain told passengers a nationwide communications problem had prompted the ground stop. Passengers were later told to get off the plane.
Russell Burke, who was in Columbia for work, said he was trying to figure out how he would get home.
“My kids have sports games tomorrow; I’d like to get home to see it,” Burke said.
Travelers continued to move through security during the ground stop, and an Allegiant Air flight from Destin-Fort Walton Beach landed around 4:10 p.m.
An American Airlines ticketing agent said earlier Friday that the airline was offering to rebook passengers. Airport Director Mike Parks advised travelers to check with their airlines for updates.
Duffy says flight disruptions may linger after ground stop.
Airlines needed time to get planes and crews back into position after the FAA lifted the nationwide ground stop, The Associated Press reported.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said officials would try to get as many flights out Friday night as crews could handle, prioritizing planes carrying more passengers, CNN reported.
Duffy said he hoped to see more flights moving Saturday and did not expect the disruption to affect Thanksgiving travel.
Duffy said overloaded network routers caused problems with radar and communications systems.
He warned that more disruptions could happen without upgrades and asked Congress for $50 billion in emergency funding to replace air traffic control hardware, software and telecommunications equipment.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the FAA issued the ground stop as a precaution. He said officials had found no evidence of a cyberattack and were still investigating.
He also said the communications problem was unrelated to Thursday’s Microsoft outage.
Mizzou football arrives in Georgia
Mizzou football landed in Athens, Georgia, on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game against the Bulldogs, the team confirmed on X.
Several college football games scheduled for Saturday, including three featuring top-25 teams, had their kickoff times changed because of the nationwide ground stop, CNN reported.
No. 2 Utah’s road game against No. 23 Arizona was pushed back three hours to 9:30 p.m. Central. No. 10 BYU’s home game against Baylor was moved from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Central.
Mississippi State’s home game against Auburn was moved from 11 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. Central, while UCF’s game against Arizona State was pushed back to 4:30 p.m. Central.
Other affected games included Tulane against Rice, now scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Central, and Florida Atlantic against Tulsa, scheduled for 6:15 p.m. Central.
Kansas’ game at West Virginia was moved up to 2:30 p.m. Central.
Duffy encouraged football teams with Saturday games to contact the FAA for help rescheduling charter flights.
Texas, Tennessee and Ole Miss were among the teams with travel issues, ESPN reported. The SEC said it was working with its schools to assess potential disruptions.
Mizzou football head coach Eli Drinkwitz and the team land in Athens.
Check back for updates.
Jacob Richey, Eli Hess, Jared Archer and Danny Jimenez of KOMU 8; Aaron Cooper, Pete Muntean, Dalia Faheid, Kit Maher, Molly English, Aleena Fayaz and Jacob Lev of CNN; and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.komu.com
