Flights at Lambert stop as FAA issues national ground stop

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The FAA has issued a nationwide ground stop due to what they’re calling “extraordinary circumstances.”

A First Alert 4 camera shows several Southwest planes sitting at the gates at Lambert International Airport.

A check of Lambert’s website shows several flights delayed at this hour.

The FAA says communication and frequency outages are affecting air traffic control centers.

This may impact planes’ ability to communicate with air traffic control.

There has only been one other nationwide ground stop since 9/11. In January 2023, a key FAA computer system malfunctioned, causing a ground stop.

Director of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, says there are no reports of this communication issue happening outside of the United States. Mullin says this is strictly a communications issue and there are no threats outside of that.

A First Alert 4 crew at Lambert sees people in lines to figure out what to do next.

Just before the 5 p.m. hour, flight data started showing flights being diverted to Lambert. This includes a flight from Los Angeles to Washington and a flight from Puerto Vallarta to Chicago.