More than 30 planes were grounded at San Francisco International Airport as part of a chaotic nationwide ground stop of all passenger aircraft, according to flight radar data.

An airport spokesperson confirmed to the California Post that the FAA ground stop was affecting SFO, “although we don’t know the nature of the outage,” the rep said.

Planes already en route to the airport were still landing there, but departing aircraft were halted, the spokesperson said.

“The FAA has not yet announced when normal operations will resume,” an alert from the agency said. “SFO is monitoring the situation and will share updates as soon as they become available.”

Data from Flightradar24 showed what appeared to be dozens of planes at the airport with none taking off.

According to FlightAware, at noon, there were 97 delayed flights and 8 cancellations at SFO. Once the FAA order was being reported around 1 p.m., it jumped to 122 flights delayed, 6 cancelled. By 2 p.m., 153 flights were delayed and 20 cancelled.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that air traffic controllers told pilots on the tarmac over radio that the nationwide ground stop would prevent departures from SFO until at least 8 p.m. The instructions could still change, controllers added.

Some flights headed to Asia or Hawaii — not over the mainland U.S. — may get a window to depart, however, the Chronicle reported from its monitoring of air traffic communications.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the ultra-rare “nationwide ground stop” was ordered because of a “communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers.”

“FAA technicians are investigating the issue. We will provide immediate updates as we have them,” he added.

Planes were reported to be parked on runways and other areas of the tarmac as more planes came in and none can leave.

Many stuck at SFO aired their worries on social media about the uncertainty of the situation.

One tech bro, Wesley Tian, said on social media he and his plane was about to fly next when his plane captain announced the ground stop and shut off the engine.

“Everybody wants to get off the flight now. Glad we didn’t take off,” he said.

Pictures at the airport showed multiple passengers sitting and waiting around, checking their phones. One passenger, Aviel Ginzburg, claimed there wasn’t enough workers at SFO to help everyone deplane from the grounded planes.

“Chaos,” he described it.

Download The California Post App, follow us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters

California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedIn
California Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X
California Post Opinion
California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!
California Post App: Download here!
Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!