FAA grounds flights nationwide, disrupting NBA, NHL and college football travel for the weekend

The Federal Aviation Administration s decision to ground all flights nationwide for several hours Friday threw the sports world into chaos, leaving NBA, NHL and college teams scrambling to reach their destinations in time for games this weekend.

The Details

Transportation officials cited “extraordinary circumstances” caused by communications issues at regional air traffic control centers for the stoppage. It left some teams searching for hotel rooms, others rescheduling flights, leagues adjusting start times, and some teams had took the extraordinary step of chartering buses rather than waiting for the ground stop to end.

“We re going to allow for general aviation, those larger movements, to take place as a priority. Smaller movements will take lower priority,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said after the ground stop was lifted Friday night in Washington.

No. 19 Mississippi’s football game at Oklahoma was moved from Saturday to Sunday at 1 p.m. EST because of travel issues. Oklahoma