The No. 6 Texas Longhorns were forced to deplane Friday afternoon after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare nationwide ground stop for all U.S. airports.
The team was initially captured on video boarding a chartered flight to Baton Rouge for a Saturday matchup against the No. 21 LSU Tigers, according to the Texas Football social media team.
Minutes later, the agency halted all air traffic due to a temporary telecommunications outage, marking only the second time such a measure has been taken since September 11, 2001, as reported by Yahoo Sports.
The FAA stated that all flights were accounted for and that international travel would be managed on a case-by-case basis, the agency noted on social media.
Unable to depart, the Longhorns returned to campus to maintain their standard Friday routine of meetings and a walk-through, as noted by local reporting.
Concerns over the team’s ability to reach Louisiana for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff led to speculation that the game might be rescheduled, according to Horns247.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the reopening of the airspace at 8:15 p.m. Eastern time, though he cautioned that the process would be slow, as reported by CBS News.
Duffy encouraged teams to coordinate directly with the FAA to ensure Saturday games proceed as scheduled, the secretary stated.
Meanwhile, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin attributed the disruption to software upgrades, claiming that “the new technology was overwhelming the older system” during a public briefing.
Despite the uncertainty, reports indicated the Longhorns remained hopeful about departing Austin late Friday night, per updates from the team’s beat writers.