Key radar facility that controls airspace for the entire DC region evacuated over strong odor

Three major Washington, D.C.-area airports — Ronald Reagan National, Dulles International, and Baltimore/Washington International — were placed under immediate ground stops Friday after a strong, unexplained odor forced the shutdown of Potomac TRACON.

The facility in Warrenton, Virginia, serves as the single radar control center for all civilian and military airspace over the entire capital region, including Andrews Air Force Base, Richmond International and multiple other airports.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirmed the outage stemmed directly from the odor inside the critical TRACON.

The FAA later lifted the ground stops, but massive delays continued. Average departure delays at Reagan National exceeded three hours as of 7:36 p.m. ET.

Passengers huddled at gates or sprawled on floors. Long lines formed at airline counters as travelers scrambled to rebook. Some were told the earliest available flights were the next day.

The disruption rippled across the national air-traffic system during peak spring-break travel.

Potomac TRACON’s sudden offline status exposed the extreme vulnerability of a single facility controlling one of America’s most sensitive airspaces.

The FAA is still working to identify the precise source of the odor.