BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — A rare nationwide ground stop by the Federal Aviation Administration has brought departing flights across the country, leaving passengers at Meadows Field Airport trying to figure out what to do next.
"I've had delays before, but this one you could tell immediately that it was like, 'oh, we're not, we're not going anytime soon,'” said Dylan Nunnamaker.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ground stop was issued after a “communication issue impacting all air route traffic control centers,” and that FAA technicians are investigating.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there was no indication, as of yet, that this was a “nefarious act,” calling it a telecommunications outage.
The ground stop started on Friday afternoon around 1 p.m. and was ultimately lifted around four hours later.
In the midst of the stoppage at Meadows Field Airport, the issue left travelers to either wait and get on their original flight, or re-book for a different day.
Joseph Guerra told 23ABC he was in town for work and was sitting on the plane getting ready to head home, but after sitting on the tarmac for about an hour before he heard the announcement from the pilot that their flight had been grounded.
"I was just sitting there watching TV, and then all of a sudden everyone started looking around and taking their headphones off, so I was like, 'Ok, maybe I should listen,' and they started saying that it was a nationwide ground stop, expecting 4 through 8 hour delays," said Guerra.
Friday afternoon, 23ABC also met George Sanchez, who was trying to get home to New Mexico through Meadows Field. Sanchez said delays are nothing new for him, but a shutdown like this is unlike anything he's seen.
“I travel so much that this doesn't even faze me. I'm used to flight delays. I'm used to missed flights. It happens. It's par for the course, but a complete ground delay- no, I never, never experienced that.”
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