A fire alarm at an air traffic control center in Albuquerque brought air travel to a sudden halt on Thursday, with the FAA stepping in to enforce emergency protocols that sent ripples across the Southwest’s skies.
At a Glance
- A fire alarm at the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center triggered a major FAA ground stop on Thursday, June 26.
- The alarm, which was later confirmed to be false, forced an evacuation of air traffic controllers, creating a staffing shortage.
- The disruption had a major ripple effect, causing hundreds of delays and cancellations at airports as far away as Phoenix.
- The FAA lifted the ground stop once controllers returned to their posts, but travelers were advised to expect lingering delays.
A Fire Alarm Triggers FAA Ground Stop
A fire alarm at a key Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico, caused widespread travel disruptions across the Southwest on Thursday. The alarm sounded at the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZAB), which manages high-altitude airspace for a vast region including parts of Arizona, California, and Texas.
As a standard safety precaution, the facility was evacuated, which included the on-duty air traffic controllers. This forced the FAA to temporarily reduce staffing and issue ground stops for flights at multiple airports, including Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Phoenix Sky Harbor (PHX), and Scottsdale Airport (SDL).
The Ripple Effect Hits Phoenix
The impact of the disruption at the New Mexico control center was felt most acutely hundreds of miles away in Arizona. Because Phoenix-bound flights must travel through airspace managed by the Albuquerque center, they were held at their points of origin.
According to a report from Fox News, the ground stop led to major delays and cancellations at Phoenix Sky Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest airports. A spokesperson for the airport, Greg Roybal, confirmed that by early afternoon, 240 flights had been delayed and eight were canceled as a direct result of the incident.
A False Alarm, A Real Disruption
Officials quickly confirmed that there was no actual fire at the Albuquerque center. Once the all-clear was given, the evacuated air traffic controllers returned to their posts. The FAA promptly canceled the ground stops and began working to restore normal operations.
“Flights are being directed around Albuquerque airspace,” the FAA said in a statement during the disruption. “Air traffic controllers returned to the Albuquerque Air Route Traffic Control Center after the FAA temporarily reduced staffing due to the fire alarm.”
While the situation was resolved relatively quickly, the incident underscores how a single disruption at a critical air traffic control facility can have a significant, cascading effect on air travel across a wide region. Passengers throughout the day were urged to check directly with their airlines for the latest information on their flight status.
