Three Washington, D.C.-area airports have reopened after a shutdown prompted by an overheated circuit board that created a troublesome "strong odor," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced late on March 13.
"The ground stop is over and operations have resumed," Duffy said in a statement about four hours after announcing the shutdown. "Firefighters from Fauquier County and Prince William County confirm there is no danger to air traffic controllers, and they are returning to the Potomac TRACON. The source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that overheated, and it was replaced."
TRACON stands for Terminal Radar Approach Control, a U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility where controllers manage aircraft within a 30 to 50-mile radius of an airport. The Potomac TRACON facility is in Northern Virginia.
The brief ground stop impacted the three major airports surrounding the nation’s capital: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Baltimore-Washington International Airport. Richmond International Airport was also shut down.
Duffy announced the closures around 5:20 p.m. local time in a statement suggesting the strange smell put a halt to flights.
