SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
When today's FAA ground stop was announced, thousands of planes at airports across the country were on the tarmac with passengers on board. We spoke with one of them, Regina Heirlig (ph).
REGINA HEIRLIG: I am at the Dallas Fort Worth airport right now, and I'm trying to go to San Diego. I flew out of BWI in Baltimore this morning and connecting in Dallas Fort Worth, trying to go to San Diego. I'm trying to help a family member who had an emergency, and so I need to get there, and I hope it's today, but I'm not feeling really optimistic about it at this point.
SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:
We also heard from Gillian Karen (ph).
GILLIAN KAREN: I'm at O'Hare, and I'm going to LaGuardia. We boarded normal time, everything normal, sat on the tarmac for quite some time. And then flight attendant comes over the speaker saying there's a nationwide grounding.
DETROW: Allison Frankel (ph) said she was in a bit of an information vacuum.
ALLISON FRANKEL: You know, it's hard sitting here without information, so we're all looking for information and guidance from the government and for as much information as we can from news reporters. But at the end of the day, you know, we all want to stay safe, so grateful, at least, to be on the ground and safe.
PFEIFFER: And as we were talking to Gillian Karen, she got some news.
KAREN: Oh, wait, sorry. There's - hold on, they're...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Inaudible). Turn off seatbelts.
KAREN: Oh, OK. We are at the gate.
DETROW: Good news - better to be in the terminal than on the tarmac all night. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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