Florida State’s trip to Pittsburgh wasn’t interrupted by the FAA’s nationwide ground stop on Friday, but the Seminoles could still feel the effects on the way home.
FSU had already made the trip a day early for its Friday night ACC game against Pitt, so the charter flight to Pittsburgh was not affected. The concern now is the return leg to Tallahassee after the game.
“We are aware of the situation and monitoring potential impacts," Derek Satterfield, FSU’s associate athletics director for public relations and content strategy, said from Pittsburgh.
The FAA ordered all departing flights at U.S. airports to stay on the ground Friday afternoon after a communications failure hit Air Route Traffic Control Centers across the country. The agency called the situation extraordinary circumstances and said it raised safety concerns.
Technicians were investigating the problem, and the directive kept all departing aircraft grounded until further notice. The ground stop was set to remain in effect until 11:30 p.m.
ET, though that did not mean normal departures would resume right away.
The disruption has affected travel plans for multiple Power Four conference football teams, but ESPN reported that all ACC visiting teams had already arrived at their destinations for Saturday’s games before the FAA issued the stop.
FSU and Pitt are scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. at Acrisure Stadium on ESPN.
Florida State enters the game 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the ACC. The Seminoles opened the season with a 34-17 win over New Mexico State, then fell 27-24 to SMU before a bye.
They lost at Alabama, 50-36, beat Central Arkansas 34-7 and Virginia 38-7, then dropped ACC road games at Louisville, 44-20, and at Miami in a 43-35 double-overtime loss. After another bye, they lost 36-24 to Clemson, beat Boston College 31-24, and now face Pitt before closing with NC State on Nov. 21 and Florida on Nov.
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