science

Ground stop

Ground stop is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Ground stop rather than just read about it. In short: A ground stop is an air traffic control procedure that requires all aircraft that fit certain criteria to remain on the ground. This could be airport-specific or perhaps equipment- or airspace-specific, depending on the exact event that caused the ground stop to occur.

Key takeaways

Ground stop belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Ground stop to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Ground stop from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A ground stop is an air traffic control procedure that requires all aircraft that fit certain criteria to remain on the ground. This could be airport-specific or perhaps equipment- or airspace-specific, depending on the exact event that caused the ground stop to occur. Downstream effects can occur from a ground stop. It causes flights to be delayed or canceled and planes and flight crew to be unable to reach the location of their next scheduled flight.

Description A ground stop is an air traffic control measure that slows or halts the flow of aircraft that meet certain criteria, requiring all aircraft of a certain criteria to remain on the ground. Often, the criteria are aircraft inbound to a given airport, where a ground stop is the halting of departing aircraft destined for one particular airport or for a specific geographic area. The criteria could be airport-specific or perhaps equipment- or airspace-specific, depending on the exact event that caused the ground stop to occur. A ground stop does not affect flights en route.

Use For example, if a ground stop is called for Newark Liberty International Airport, aircraft departing for Newark from other airports will not be given departure clearance until such time that the ground stop in Newark is lifted. This allows, in this example, for Newark to deal with the task at hand before preparing for arriving aircraft once the ground stop is lifted. Ground stops may occur during an operational event (e.g., a computer outage), a thunderstorm or other weather concerns (e.g., due to the danger of wind shear or hail), or another hazard. A ground stop can have cascading effects on flight schedules. Flights that have yet to depart may be delayed or canceled by the airline. Additionally, pilots and flight crew may be unable to reach their assigned aircraft on time, leading to further disruptions. As a result, subsequent flights may also be delayed or canceled due to crew members being unavailable.

Notable examples On September 11, 2001, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a ground stop for the entire United States as a precaution against possible additional terrorist attacks by airplane. In addition to grounding international flights which had not yet departed, flights already in the air were either returned to their origin departure airport, or diverted to Canadian airports in Operation Yellow Ribbon. The ground stop was lifted on September 13, when departures from airports within the US also resumed. This was the first ever closure of this magnitude. In January 2014, Nav Canada issued a ground stop for Toronto Pearson due to cold weather. The airport authority said the extreme cold was causing "equipment freezing and safety issues for employees." On January 25, 2019, the FAA declared a ground stop at New York's LaGuardia Airport over a staffing shortage caused by the government shutdown. On January 10, 2022, the FAA issued a ground stop for the West Coast of the US and Hawaii. It is speculated it was related to a North Korean missile test, but no official reason was given by the FAA. On July 25, 2022, a ground stop was declared at Dallas Love Field after a woman fired a gun into the air near the ticket counters, prompting an evacuation of the terminal. On January 11, 2023, a nationwide ground stop was declared across the US following the failure of the FAA's NOTAM system. On February 4, 2023, an immediate ground stop was issued by the FAA on the east coast of the Carolinas, impacting Myrtle Beach International Airport, Charleston International Airport and Wilmington International Airport, due to the 2023 Chinese balloon incident. On June 7, 2023, the FAA issued a ground stop at LaGuardia National Airport in New York City due to extreme smoke haze in the area from Canadian wildfires. On July 19, 2024, Delta, American and United Airlines issued a "global ground stop" amid global computer systems outages. On October 14, 2025, Austin–Bergstrom International Airport had a ground stop due to staffing, potentially related to the 2025 United States federal government shutdown

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Ground stop

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Ground stop claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Ground stop before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Ground stop ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Ground stop

In research: Ground stop appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Ground stop in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Ground stop is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Air traffic control, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Ground stop outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Ground stop in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Ground stop means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Ground stop out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Ground stop in simple terms?

Why does Ground stop matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Ground stop?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Ground stop.