Ground Stop Issued at Three DC Airports as FAA Investigates ‘Strong Chemical Smell’
Update: The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that overheated. Flights have resume again.
A ground stop has been enacted at three airports in the Washington, .C., area according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Passengers at Washington Reagan National Airport were huddled at gates Friday night as they awaited their flights, with several sprawled out on the floor. Delays at Baltimore have reached over two hours. and 90 minutes at Dulles Airport, according to the FAA.
Ground stops have also been issued at Richmond International Airport, Charlottesville Albemarle Airport and Manassas Regional Airport in the TRACON’s coverage area, adding to the growing list of delays affecting travelers.
Duffy said the FAA is investigating a strong odor coming from Potomac TRACON, which provides air traffic control services to the Baltimore-Washington and the Richmond-Charlottesville areas. The TRACON controls the airspace over Andrews, BWI, Ronald Reagan, Dulles, Richmond and many other airports.
🚨BREAKING🚨 GROUND STOP CURRENTLY AT THE FOLLOWING AIRPORTS:
⚠️ Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA)
⚠️ Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD)
⚠️ Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI)⁰⚠️ Richmond International Airport (RIC)@FAANews is working to…— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 13, 2026
Hazmat and fire crews have responded to the reports of the chemical odor at the Potomac TRACON (Terminal RADAR Approach Control) facility in Virginia. Equipment outages are also reported at the Philadelphia Airport.
The FAA said the smell occurred at the Potomac TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) facility in Warranton, Virginia, which sits roughly 50 miles outside of the nation’s capital. The facility helps manage airspace in the region outside of take-offs and departures.
The TRACON facility also serves Richmond International Airport, which is also under a ground stop, according to the FAA.
Philadelphia International Airport was also on a ground delay due to “equipment outages.”
It appears the chemical smell impacted air traffic and controllers. Flights are expected to resume later this evening.
Flights are expected to resume around 8 p.m., according to the F.A.A.’s website.
Grace Wilkins Maxwell was on her plane at Washington Dulles International Airport to Louisville, Ky., for about an hour before passengers disembarked.
Passengers were at the gate, charging their phones and waiting for news, Mrs. Maxwell said. “I’m not convinced anyone is leaving D.C. tonight,” she said.
Hopefully, the investigation into the chemical odor and equipment glitches will yield swift answers so both controllers and passengers can breathe a little easier.
For now, here’s wishing everyone waiting in Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, and beyond a safe and smooth trip home once flights are cleared to depart tonight.
UPDATE:
The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that overheated. Flights have resume again.
UPDATE: The ground stop is over and operations have resumed.
Firefighters from Fauquier County and Prince William County confirm there is no danger to air traffic controllers, and they are returning to the Potomac TRACON. The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit… https://t.co/6DwPLPw0OE
— Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) March 14, 2026
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Comments
the stench of dei
I have a theory…
https://x.com/rduke0071/status/2032618925502914740
Shows how easy it can be to disrupt air traffic…
A smell those in my industry know instinctively. If there had been a competent computer contractor onsite, they could have had this diagnosed and the emergency cancelled in about 5 minutes flat.
If.
A circuit board overheated at all of those locations simultaneously? Im not sure if am reading this article correctly. Why were multiple airports shuttered if it was just one circuit board?
I read another article on the same situation, and now I understand. Potomac TRACON, where the circuit board overheated has ground control over all of those airports.
Sorry, it’s early on a Saturday morning, and im not quite operating a full capacity yet. No coffee.onboard.
Not ground control. That’s done in the specific airport. This Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) controls the airspace in the region these three airports are in. So, makes sense that once they evacuated the TRACON, a ground stop on those airports was put in place.
“TRACON controllers generally handle within a 30- to 50-mile radius of an airport and up to 10 000 feet, as well as aircraft flying over that airspace. ”
Once an airport departs that 30 to 50 mile radius, the aircraft shifts over to the FAA enroute center aka Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC) which controls high altitude traffic.
I’ve been to this TRACON when I worked at the FAA. It’s in Warrenton, VA. Very interesting operation.
After flying for a decade plus, I went to Fadely’s in Patchogue and met ‘Egg White’ a local Tracon controller I had many conversations with but no Spaten Oktoberfest until then.
He died last couple of years. This is getting very popular on Long Island… 🙁
I agree. As a retired Electrical Engineer, a smell such as that would be, literally, instantly recognizable.