华盛顿/纽约/加利福尼亚州圣何塞 11月13日电 - 大卫·约翰逊的跨州航班两度延误。芭芭拉·斯坦伯格预计将错过高中同学聚会。而格里塞尔·弗朗西斯不由得想起了2001年9月11日的劫机事件。
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK/SAN JOSE, California, Nov 13 - David Johnson had his cross-country flight delayed twice. Barbara Steinberg expected to miss her high-school reunion. And Grissel Francis could not help but think of the September 11, 2001 hijackings.
“挺吓人的，”弗朗西斯周五在自2001年袭击事件以来美国最大规模的空中交通停飞期间表示。“你会有9/11的闪回，你知道。”他们是被迫改变行程的数万名乘客中的一员，当时美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）发布了一项持续四小时的停飞令，根据FlightRadar24的数据，导致超过6600个航班取消，8600个航班延误。这是本世纪联邦航空管理局发布的第三次全国性停飞令。
"It was kind of scary," Francis said on Friday during the largest halt to US air travel since the 2001 attacks. "You have these flashbacks from 9/11, you know." They were among tens of thousands of fliers forced to change their plans when the FAA issued a ground stop that lasted four hours and led to the cancellations of more than 6,600 flights, with 8,600 delayed, according to FlightRadar24. It was just the third nationwide stop issued by the Federal Aviation Administration this century.
交通部长肖恩·达菲将问题归咎于雷达和通信系统中老化的网络技术故障，而非恶意行为者。
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the problems not on malicious actors but on a failure of aging network technology in the radar and communications system used for air traffic control.
在罗纳德·里根华盛顿国家机场，信息显示屏几乎完全被标记为“延误”或“取消”的航班填满，一些旅客显得无奈，他们想知道延误将持续多久，以及行程会受到何种影响。这种不确定性让约翰逊等人感到沮丧。
At the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where information displays were almost completely filled with flights marked "Delayed" or "Cancelled," some travelers appeared resigned as they wondered how long the delays would last and how their travel plans would be affected. The uncertainty frustrated Johnson and others.
“目前我不知道这种事情怎么会发生，也不知道这种情况怎么会持续这么久，”正试图从华盛顿飞往旧金山的约翰逊说。“如果至少延误时长已知并得到明确沟通，我本可以制定替代计划。”斯坦伯格表示怀疑自己能否赶上聚会，因为她乘坐的加拿大波特航空从新泽西州纽瓦克飞往多伦多的航班被取消，迫使她改订周六的航班。
"I don’t know at this point how something like this could be happening and how this situation can last so long," said Johnson, who was trying to fly from Washington to San Francisco. "I could make alternative plans if at least the duration (of the delay) was known and clearly communicated." Steinberg expressed doubts that she would make her reunion after her Porter Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Toronto was canceled, forcing her to rebook for Saturday.
“许多基础设施需要修复，这是有人需要解决的问题，”来自新泽西州雪松丘的会计师斯坦伯格说。
"There’s a lot of infrastructure that needs to be fixed, and that’s what somebody needs to figure out," said Steinberg, an accountant from Cedar Knolls, New Jersey.
居住在加利福尼亚州科拉利托斯的 71 岁老人 Debra Bliesner 认为美国联邦航空管理局（FAA）下令停飞是审慎之举。
Debra Bliesner, 71, of Corralitos, California, viewed the FAA’s ground stop as a prudent action.
“我在空军服役了 30 年，所以当联邦航空管理局发布停飞令时，我非常重视，”正在圣何塞米内塔国际机场准备搭乘飞往棕榈泉航班的 Bliesner 说。“所以我来机场的路上在祈祷，如果我的安全受到威胁……我是说，我宁愿受点不便，”她说。
"I spent 30 years in the Air Force, so when the FAA is issuing a stoppage, I take that pretty seriously," said Bliesner, who was at the San Jose Mineta International Airport for a flight to Palm Springs. "So, my prayer on the way in here was, if my safety is compromised … I mean, I’d rather be inconvenienced," she said.
Grissel 和 Joseph Francis 当时正乘坐从达拉斯飞往纽约的航班在空中，机组人员广播称全国所有航班停飞，他们的飞机将是最后抵达原定目的地的航班之一。
Grissel and Joseph Francis were already in the air on a flight from Dallas to New York when the crew announced that all flights were grounded across the country and that their plane would be one of the last to make it to its planned destination.
“这简直是超现实的时刻，”Grissel Francis 说。
"It was just a surreal moment," Grissel Francis said.
飞机降落在纽约市拉瓜迪亚机场后，在拥挤的跑道上等待了约一个小时才等到可用登机口，身后还排着其他几架飞机。
After landing at New York City’s LaGuardia Airport, their plane waited on the crowded runway for about an hour for an available gate, alongside several other aircraft lined up behind it.
即使联邦航空管理局解除了停飞令，成千上万的旅客仍滞留在机场，可能要过夜，Duffy 说。
Even after the FAA lifted the ground stop, tens of thousands of travelers remained stuck at airports, possibly overnight, Duffy said.
来自宾夕法尼亚州韦斯特切斯特的 Edward Karagbo 原定周五乘坐埃塞俄比亚航空航班飞往多哥洛美，结果却滞留在纽瓦克自由国际机场，等待一架被改道并重新安排在 9 小时后起飞的航班。“我得在这儿蹲一晚了，”他说。“我被困住了。”
Edward Karagbo, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, was scheduled to take an Ethiopian Airlines flight on Friday to Lome, Togo. Instead he found himself at Newark Liberty International Airport waiting for a plane that was rerouted and rescheduled for a departure nine hours later. "I have to squat the night here," he said. "I’m stranded."