Airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and parts of Virginia halted flights Friday evening after federal authorities said air traffic controllers detected a strong chemical smell at the Potomac TRACON facility that manages traffic into the region’s airports, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped air traffic at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport and Richmond International Airport, the department spokesperson said.
The FAA said the pause was tied to the Potomac TRACON, a terminal radar approach control facility that handles approach and other air-traffic functions for surrounding regions, according to an FAA description of the facility. FAA spokeswoman Kristen Alsop said Friday that controllers were coming back to work and that normal flight operations should return “soon,” the Associated Press reported.
After the ground stop, Baltimore-Washington International Airport said on the social platform X that the FAA’s stop impacting flights to and from the airport had been lifted. The airport said, however, that “some residual flight delays can be expected this evening,” indicating that effects from the earlier halt could linger through the night.
New York City Emergency Management also issued a warning to travelers, saying flights to Washington might be significantly delayed Friday night. In its X post, the agency said travelers to the DC area should expect possible ground holds, departure delays and cancellations, and it advised checking directly with airlines before going to the airport.
The reported chemical-smell disruption was the second time this month that airports in the region had been forced to halt flights due to an odor at the Potomac TRACON facility. In an earlier incident, which lasted about an hour, the smell was traced to a circuit, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an X posting, and operations resumed after firefighters confirmed there was no danger to air traffic controllers.