Disorder at the busiest U.S. airport as ALL flights halted because of ‘equipment malfunction’

A ground stop has been ordered at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson Airport on Sunday due to an equipment outage.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued the ground stop at 10:40 a.m. ET on Mother’s Day – and is set to be in effect until noon.

‘Departures to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International are grounded due to equipment outage,’ the agency said. 

The ground stop was issued for flights scheduled to leave from East Coast area airports bound for Atlanta, reported Atlanta News First.

Arrivals have slowed down due to ‘a runway equipment issue,’ and technicians are working to fix the issue.

The probability of extension is listed as medium, between 30 to 60 percent, according to the FAA.

The FAA’s Air Traffic Control System Command Center have implemented a traffic management program at the travel hub.

‘There is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport,’ said the FAA.

A ground stop has been ordered at the Atlanta airport (pictured) Sunday due to an equipment outage

‘Because a traffic management program is delaying some arriving flights, departing flight schedules may be affected.’ 

At least 264 flights have been delayed and three canceled by 11:30 a.m. at the Atlanta airport, according to FlightAware. 

The chaos in Atlanta comes as New Jersey’s Newark Airport has been hit with massive delays for two weeks.

Radar screens went dark at the New York City area travel hub early Friday during a close call that nearly became a midair disaster.

The momentary power outage hit at 3:55 a.m. ET, when air traffic was luckily very light, and lasted for about for 90 seconds.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) made an announcement last Friday, stating that the blackout at Philadelphia Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) Area C was due to a ‘telecommunications outage’.

Located at the Philadelphia International Airport, this control center oversees air traffic for Newark Airport and other smaller nearby airports.

This is the second time in the last two weeks that Newark has experienced a radar blackout. The previous outage affected the airport’s air traffic control tower on April 28, resulting in computer screens going dark for approximately 60 to 90 seconds.

The chaos in Atlanta comes as New Jersey’s Newark Airport (pictured) has been hit with massive delays for two weeks

The busy airport (pictured in July) experienced disruptions for the last two weeks, which officials blamed on air traffic controller staffing issues and construction

Days after the April 28 incident, an air traffic controller at Newark Airport warned flyers to stay away from the New Jersey airport.

The unnamed source told NBC’s Tom Costello: ‘It’s not a safe situation for the flying public!’

‘Don’t fly into Newark. Avoid Newark at all costs,’ the air traffic controller added.

During the blackout Friday, air traffic controllers were reportedly overheard telling a FedEx cargo plane their radars screens were offline.

They allegedly told the plane’s pilots to put pressure on their company to help get the problems fixed.

A private jet was also reportedly told to stay above 3,000 feet because the air traffic controllers couldn’t guarantee that they’d be able to contact the plane during its descent for landing.

The radar blackout also happened just days after more than 20 percent of Newark’s tower controllers allegedly ‘walked off the job’ following the first power outage.

Officially, several of the air traffic controllers used their ‘trauma leave’ following the first radar blackout on April 28.

On Friday, air traffic controllers in Philadelphia, who are responsible for directing aircrafts in at Newark, experienced a radar blackout for the second time in two week

The massive delays come as the Trump administration has worked to address the air traffic controller shortage, while the president has blamed DEI for the recent spate of aviation disasters. 

Donald Trump vowed to purge DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion – from U.S. aviation, among other federal agencies, in the wake of the deadly midair collision at Reagan National airport in January that claimed 67 lives.

Since the beginning of 2025, at least 143 people have died in 36 US aviation incidents, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

This is a developing story…