Flights Halted at Washington D.C. Airports Due to Mysterious Chemical Odor

A temporary ground stop was enforced at all three major airports in the Washington, D.C. area on Friday afternoon following the detection of a strong chemical odor at a key air traffic control center in Potomac.

The affected airports included Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, and Baltimore/Washington International Airport.

Authorities attributed the disruption to a “strong chemical smell” at the Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, also known as Potomac TRACON, which manages the airspace in the vicinity.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented the ground stop, initially expected to last until at least 8 p.m., though the specific cause of the odor remains unconfirmed.

In an official statement, the FAA explained that flights were paused at Reagan National (DCA), Dulles (IAD), and Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) due to the odor at the Potomac TRACON facility, which was impacting some of the air traffic controllers.

The FAA advised travelers to check its flight status website, fly.faa.gov, for the latest updates.

Other airports along the East Coast also impacted including Richmond International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, Charlottesville Albemarle Airport, Manassas Regional Airport/Harry P. Davis Field and others. 

Potomac TRACON, located in Warrenton, Virginia, about 50 miles outside of the nation’s capital, manages approach and departure traffic for a large portion of the mid-Atlantic, including the Baltimore-Washington and Richmond-Charlottesville regions.

The FAA issued a ground stop Friday at Reagan National, Washington Dulles and Baltimore/Washington International airports after a strong chemical smell was reported at the Potomac TRACON facility

Flights appeared to be going nowhere on Friday night with all the major airports in the Washington D.C. area on groundstop

Officials said the odor was affecting some air traffic controllers responsible for managing flights in the Washington, D.C. region. Pictured, Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport

Controllers at the facility handle aircraft moving through the airspace surrounding several major airports, including Reagan National, Dulles, BWI and Richmond, as well as flights operating near Joint Base Andrews and other nearby airfields.

The groundstop and delays to flights some as airport security officers across the country missed their first full paycheck on Friday as a partial funding shutdown of the government approached the one-month mark.

The lapse in funding is forcing thousands of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) staff to work without pay as spring travel picks up, raising fears of staffing shortages, longer security lines and flight delays.

TSA officers, the army of workers who screen passengers, baggage and cargo, received only partial pay two weeks ago.

Friday’s missed payment represents the first full check lost since the shutdown began, and unions and government officials warn the financial strain is pushing some workers to quit or seek other jobs.

Amid stalled talks on Capitol Hill to end the stoppage, President Donald Trump hit out at Democrats, accusing them of willful obstructionism.

‘These are people that hate our country. These are people that have Trump Derangement Syndrome…Anything I say, they go the opposite,’ he told Fox News Radio.

More than 300 TSA employees have already left the agency since the shutdown began on February 14, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said, while US media reported unscheduled absences had more than doubled.

Officials said the disruption was linked to a ‘strong chemical smell’ detected at the Potomac Consolidated Terminal Radar Approach Control facility, pictured commonly known as Potomac TRACON, which oversees air traffic in the region.

Potomac TRACON, located in Warrenton, Virginia, provides air traffic control services for the Baltimore-Washington area. Pictured, Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, VA 

People wait in line at a TSA security checkpoint at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas on March 10, 2026

Airports in several cities have warned passengers to arrive hours earlier than usual because of long security lines. 

Some officers are already taking on second jobs or relying on donations, union officials say, while several major airports are collecting gift cards and stocking food pantries for TSA staff struggling without pay.

The shutdown stems from a dispute over funding for the DHS, the only federal department still without an approved budget after Congress completed most of its spending bills last year.

Democrats say they will not support funding immigration enforcement agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection without reforms to their operations.

Republicans say those demands are unacceptable and accuse Democrats of refusing to negotiate.

The stalemate has hardened in the Senate, where Democrats have repeatedly blocked legislation passed by the Republican-controlled House to fund the department.

Airline passengers wait in long lines to get through the TSA security screening at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, last Sunday, because of staff shortages

‘Democrats have tried six separate times  to pass simple bills to keep these critical parts of DHS running while negotiations continue,’ Senate Democratic Minority leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday. ‘Six times Republicans came to the floor and blocked them.’

Republicans, in turn, rejected a Democratic proposal that would fund other DHS agencies while leaving immigration enforcement unresolved.

Airports and travel groups warn that the impact could intensify if the shutdown drags on, with exhausted workers leaving and further straining security operations nationwide.

‘Democrats have tried — six separate times — to pass simple bills to keep these critical parts of DHS running while negotiations continue,’ Senate Democratic Minority leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement.

‘Six times Republicans came to the floor and blocked them. TSA officers shouldn’t miss paychecks, disaster relief shouldn’t be left hanging, and Americans’ safety shouldn’t be collateral damage in a political standoff Republicans created.’