All departures to Philadelphia International Airport have been grounded due to a bomb threat on Friday, November 28, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). After checking and finding no threat, the ground stop was lifted. However, no additional information was given in the advisory issued by the FAA regarding the security threat at the airport.
According to an air-traffic advisory, all departures bound for PHL from Washington Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZDC) in Leesburg, Virginia, New York Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZNY) in Ronkonkoma, New York. Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZOB) in Oberlin, Ohio and Boston Air Route Traffic Control (ZBW) Center in Nashua, New Hampshire airspace centers were stopped between 00:47 and 02:00 GMT+1, with officials warning there was a medium (30–60%) chance the restriction could be extended.
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The ground stop meant no aircraft were allowed to depart for Philadelphia while security agencies assessed the threat, significantly disrupting overnight and early-morning traffic during a busy travel period. Operations were configured for arrivals and departures on runway 27L, but departures toward PHL remained frozen until authorities were confident it was safe to resume normal flights.