Flights around the US disrupted because of equipment failure

September 25, 2007 All airline traffic within 250 miles of Houston, Texas was suspended today by the The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because of an equipment failure at the control center at Memphis International Airport.

Numerous flights from all around the country had to be grounded today because of the problem. It is not known exactly how many flights were affected.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said air traffic control centers from neighboring regions handled flights that were in the air when the problem was discovered around 12:30 p.m. EDT. "The airspace was completely cleared by 1:30 p.m. Eastern time," Bergen said.

Bergen also said, "What we did is put a ground stop in place for any flight that would transition through that airspace. We held them on the ground wherever they were, whether it was Miami, Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston."

An airport spokesman said the problem was fixed at Memphis International Airport and scheduled flights have resumed.