'I may lose my mind': Frustrated travellers stuck in US flight havoc

Detailed summary

A rare nationwide ground stop left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the United States, with conflicting information about delays adding to the confusion as…

A rare nationwide ground stop left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded across the United States, with conflicting information about delays adding to the confusion as travellers scrambled to salvage their plans.

Confusion reigned at airports across the United States on Friday (Nov 13), as a rare grounding of all US flights stranded hundreds of thousands of frustrated travellers.

In New York's busy LaGuardia airport, Janice Llewellyn was on the verge of tears: the chaos could mean she will miss her daughter's wedding in Toronto.

The 61-year-old Llewellyn was desperate to find an alternative route, telling AFP: "I may lose my mind."

"My husband flew all the way from England to get to the wedding," she said. "Oh gosh! I wish they had another flight, I wish I could get another flight, like, now."

At the airport in Las Vegas, some fliers were told their journeys were delayed due to wind.

One airline staffer said the ground stop would last eight hours. Another said 24 hours.

Government officials have said the grounding was due to a major communications outage and not due to any "nefarious attack".

The shambolic lack of information led many passengers to form long lines at rental car counters in a mad dash for travel alternatives.

Opening of the article, excerpted from CNA. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.