A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) equipment outage occurred on August 6, 2026, at the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center, affecting radar and air traffic control systems spanning 333,000 square miles across the Midwest.
The outage prompted the FAA to issue a ground stop at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) at approximately 2:30 p.m. local time, halting all departures and limiting arrivals. Flights originating from Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin were diverted or held due to the disruption. Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, also experienced delays and flight diversions during the same period.
FAA and Airport Officials Confirm Outage and Recovery
An FAA
spokesperson stated flights in and out of Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center’s airspace were paused due to telecommunication issues affecting radar and control systems. The ground stop was lifted around 4 p.m., with operations resuming subsequently. By 4:45 p.m., MSP reported 87 delayed departures linked to the outage. Eppley Airfield officials confirmed ongoing impacts and advised travelers to contact their airlines. The FAA said systems were fully restored and flights returned to normal following the outage.
Passenger Experiences and Flight Diversions
Passenger Sierra Maatta, on a flight arriving from Dublin, said her flight was delayed nearly 90 minutes and was temporarily rerouted to Pittsburgh
during the outage. “It was kind of funny, because we were all like watching our movies, right? And then all the sudden, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! It went from like an hour and a half to three hours,’” Maatta recounted. She added that while airborne, passengers continued watching movies amid the delay.
Expert Comments on Outdated FAA Equipment
Retired airline pilot Paul Jackson characterized the FAA equipment as “very, very old and very, very out of date in many cases.” He praised air traffic controllers for managing operations with aging technology. Jackson noted the outage coincided with the FAA’s comprehensive modernization effort of the
air traffic control system, calling the incident a demonstration that upgrades are overdue.
Additional Regional Disruptions and Investigation
Several Minnesota communities reported internet and state website outages concurrent with the FAA outage, though authorities have not established a connection between these events. The FAA is investigating the cause of the telecommunication failure amid its ongoing effort to overhaul its systems.
