Tag Archives: airport

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DCA Power Outage, Ground Stop in Effect

dca closed

Update 1:45pm: Fortunately that was a quickly resolved disruption. DCA is back open and is now green on the FAA map. This may create a residual backup though so check with airlines for flights in/out of DCA to see how delayed they are.

Update 1:17pm: According to WAMU and the FAA, all flights are stopped right now and TSA has halted security screenings.

DCA just can’t catch any breaks these days. Last week, the C terminal was slammed with a massive flood resulting from a water main break. Today there is apparently a power outage. According to the FAA, as well as passengers stuck around the country who can’t take off for DC, there is a ground stop in effect. The image above is a shot of the FAA site as of right now. It is unclear if this is killing all inbound and outbound flights or just some. If you have details, please add them in the comments. Needless to say, if you are flying in or out of DCA, expect delays right now. How long remains to be seen.

FAA details:
Due to EQUIPMENT / OUTAGE, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington, DC (DCA).

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DCA Under Water, Baggage Claim Flooded

DCA Flooded

UPDATE 12/27: WTOP is reporting that all is back “normal” at DCA this morning. Apparently it took over 100 people working non-stop through the night to get the airport terminal back in working shape. Expect heavy wait times and potentially delays for US Air as they try to play catch up this morning.

UPDATE 6:36 pm: ALL US Airways flights out of DCA for today have been canceled. This is being reported from several people via Twitter. It is also being reported that most flights into DCA may be canceled or at least very delayed.

UPDATE 6:00 pm:At least part of DCA is now closed because of this flood. It is being caused by a water main break. There is an amazing video of this below that shows the water pouring down the outside of the baggage claim. Anyone flying into DCA can probably expect some type of delay, especially if flying into C terminal. I’m guessing that A terminal is not really affected by this right now.

I landed at Reagan National Airport just after 3pm today to find the lower level of the C and B terminals, the baggage claim and ground transportation level, quickly being closed off as water poured in from what sounded like multiple sources. At that time, the baggage claim level had a few inches of standing water and rising. There were also very large puddles rapidly forming on the main terminal level as well, just outside the security gate. At this time, we are not sure if the area has been re-opened or if the flood is under control, but either way, I would expect problems and delays if picking someone up at DCA that has checked baggage. Nobody was allowed to go downstairs and no bags were coming out on the belts around 3:20.

If you are at DCA, please let us know of any updates so that we can pass them along to our readers. More pictures and the video after the jump.

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AA Flight from DCA Overshoots Runway in Jamaica

American Airlines Flight 331, a 737-800 originating from DC National Airport, overshot the runway on landing in Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston, Jamaica, with heavy rain. The plane broke into pieces and came to a stop on the beach, just short of the water. At the moment we are hearing 154 on board, no fatalities, 91 injuries, 3 reported serious. Survivors escaping the fuselage emerged into dark and rain, then had to walk down the beach to get to waiting buses. More from NPR, and discussion on Airliners.net.

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Southwest a possibility for DCA

Photo courtesy of
‘Clouds and Landing’
courtesy of ‘Samer Farha’

The AP is reporting that Southwest has put in a non-binding bid on struggling airline Frontier Air, which could bring Southwest to Reagan National Airport if a sale eventually went though. Don’t feel free to move about the country just yet, however. The bid’s non-binding so that Southwest can get a chance to get more information from Frontier and there’s already another bid on the table.  Even if they eventually acquire the struggling airline there’s no certainty they’d keep all the routes or locations.

One can hope, however, and Southwest would be my personal second choice for an addition to DCA. JetBlue would be my first.