Detroit Metro Airport travelers deal with delays, cancellations after nationwide ground stop
Travelers at Detroit Metro Airport are facing cancellations and delays Saturday, less than a day after a rare nationwide ground stop ordered by the Federal Aviation Administration halted departing U.S. flights for hours.
As of Saturday night, more than 250 flights to and from the Romulus-based airport are canceled and over 230 are delayed, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. Nationwide, more than 5,000 flights have been canceled, while around 5,300 have been delayed.
The ground stop was issued on Friday afternoon due to "extraordinary circumstances and for reasons of safety" and lasted roughly five hours. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a briefing Friday night that routers became overloaded with data and began to provide inconsistent information, resulting in a "telecommunication outage."
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in Friday's briefing that new security patches introduced into the older system appeared to "overwhelm" its routers.
The FAA's preliminary investigation has led the agency to believe the issue was limited to Cisco 600 series routers that were manufactured between 2001 and 2006, senior government sources told CBS News. The sources added that the faulty equipment has been identified and isolated.
Mullin added that there was no cyberattack and the ground stop was not related to the massive global Microsoft outage.
The Wayne County Airport Authority urged travelers on Friday night to check their flight status with their airline.
Travelers stressed in wake of ground stop
Travelers passing through DTW on Saturday were stressed due to canceled and delayed flights.
"I was stranded in JFK for 24 hours, and I haven't slept," said traveler Suleika Stray.
Stray was trying to get to Virginia from Ohio.
After spending almost a day in New York, she told CBS News Detroit it took a team effort from her family members across the Midwest just to get her to an airport like DTW to make it to her destination.
"I immediately had a rally of family members saying, It's ok, how can we help? What can we do? Where can you get to? I can get you here. I can get you there," said Stray.
While Stray may make up for lost time, a Rochester, Michigan, couple's long-awaited vacation was officially canceled due to the ground stop.
"I booked this cruise in January. It was a Princess cruise," said Carmelita Didlake.
The Didlake family says that the cruise line was aware of their delay. After their flight was initially canceled and the takeoff time was constantly pushed back Saturday, they say the cruise's departure was pushed from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. because of the ground stop.
The Didlakes later found out they would miss their destination at sea by 30 minutes.
"We won't get there in time; by a half hour. I give up," said Winfred Didlake.
