Washington-area airports halt flights due to chemical smell at air traffic center

WASHINGTON — Airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and some cities in Virginia briefly halted all flights Friday evening because of what federal authorities said was a strong chemical smell at the flight center that controls traffic into the airports.

According to a spokesperson with the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily stopped traffic at at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Charlottesville–Albemarle Airport and Richmond International Airport because of a the chemical odor at the Potomac TRACON.

The TRACON is a terminal radar approach control facility that manages air traffic for those regions, according to the FAA website.

FAA spokeswoman Kristen Alsop said Friday that controllers were coming back to work and normal flight operations should return to normal soon.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport said in a post on the social platform X that the FAA’s ground stop impacting flights to and from the airport had been lifted, but that “some residual flight delays can be expected this evening.”

New York City Emergency Management warned travelers that flights to Washington might be significantly delayed Friday night.

“Travelers to the DC area should expect possible ground holds, departure delays, and cancellations, and check directly with your airline before heading to the airport,” the agency said in a post on X.

It was the second time this month that airports in the region have had to halt flights because of a chemical smell at the Potomac facility. The previous ground stop, which lasted about an hour, was the result of a strong odor that was traced to a circuit, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in an X posting.

Operations resumed in that incident after firefighters confirmed there was no danger to air traffic controllers.