The Digester

Ground stop at Potomac TRACON causes major delays at DC area airports

Mar 13th 2026

FAA and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy say a strong odor and an equipment outage at Potomac TRACON prompted a roughly three-hour ground stop Friday, triggering multi-hour delays at Reagan, Dulles, Baltimore and other regional airports.

  • FAA issued a ground stop after reports of a strong odor and an equipment outage at Potomac TRACON in Warrenton, Virginia.
  • The ground stop lasted about three hours and has been lifted, but airports are still recovering from the disruption.
  • Delays reached more than 3.5 hours at Reagan, about three hours at Dulles, and over 2.5 hours at Baltimore-Washington International.
  • Potomac TRACON controls airspace for Andrews, BWI, Reagan, Dulles, Richmond and others, and additional stops affected Richmond, Charlottesville and Manassas airports.
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the FAA is investigating the odor and the incident remains a developing story.

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