Technical problems at DC airport cause delays at RSW

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Fort Myers, Fla. – Flights are beginning to resume on the east coast after a technical problem in DC grounded numerous flights. Thousands across the country, including Fort Myers saw their flights cancelled or delayed.

FAA officials say a computer outage caused the delays. Representatives from American Airlines say they have been working hard to help customers re-book flights.

Passengers from Philadelphia say it’s been a long day of traveling.

“So far, delays, delays, delays,” Greg Stuart said.

 “Well we had a delay in Philadelphia for about 45 minutes because of the radar problems in DC,” Janet Keyser said.
Passengers on the flight from Philadelphia were delayed because they were one of the many planes routed to go over the DC area.

“As soon as we were all seated and ready to taxi, the pilot made an announcement that there was some radar or tower difficulty in Washington; something was down,” Frank Movisso.

According to the FAA, there was an automation problem at an air traffic center which handles high-altitude air traffic for DC and Baltimore airports. That meant that all flights that fly over that area were either delayed or cancelled.

“Once we finally got airborne out of Philadelphia they routed us for another 45 minutes west so that we wouldn’t have to go through the DC airspace,” Keyser said.

When they finally got into Fort Myers, their plane had to circle the area for another 45 minutes because of thunderstorms.

“It’s been a real, real mess,” Stuart said.

The FAA is continuing to investigate the case of the technical problem.

 

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