Actors Tyriq Withers and Daniel Kaluuya were among those caught up in the nationwide FAA ground stop on Friday. The two were stranded at Oregon’s Eugene Airport while travelling back to Los Angeles after their flight was grounded.
The FAA issued a nationwide ground stop for four hours on Friday, which led to thousands of cancelled flights.
On Saturday morning, Duffy wrote on X, “Operations are slowly returning to normal this morning. Planes are pushing back, taxiing, and taking off, and it is safe to fly. We are in close coordination with the airlines to support the ongoing recovery.”
Tyriq Withers, Daniel Kaluuya stuck at Eugene Airport
Deep Dive
Why were Tyriq Withers and Daniel Kaluuya stranded at Eugene Airport?
What caused the FAA ground stop that stranded Withers and Kaluuya?
When did the FAA ground stop end, and when were flights expected to return to normal?
Even celebrities got caught up in the FAA nationwide ground stop on Friday. Actors Tyriq Withers and Daniel Kaluuya were among the passengers stranded at the Eugene Airport in Oregon on November 13.
The two actors spoke to Eugene TV station KVAL at the airport. They told the channel they were headed back to Los Angeles and had boarded the plane before the grounding. As per Entertainment Weekly, they were forced to get off the plane. The ground stop lasted about four hours and was lifted around 5:15pm.
{{/usCountry}}The two actors spoke to Eugene TV station KVAL at the airport. They told the channel they were headed back to Los Angeles and had boarded the plane before the grounding. As per Entertainment Weekly, they were forced to get off the plane. The ground stop lasted about four hours and was lifted around 5:15pm.
{{/usCountry}}What the actors said
Withers joked about a viral meme while thanking the FAA for putting passenger safety first. “I just want to thank God for FAA really protecting us, post-blue wave as well,” Withers quipped. “But I really feel like, you know, it’s really upsetting me and my homegirl. ’Cause if you can’t go to the airport, where the hell can you go?”
According to Entertainment Weekly, Withers seemed to be referring to the Democrats’ big midterm wins on November 3. His words were also a recreation of a viral 2015 news interview with a partygoer outside the now-shuttered Bella Noche nightclub in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Kaluuya laughed at the moment.
Kaluuya then thanked the FAA and airline workers who were trying to fix the issue and keep passengers safe. “It’s an inconvenience, but I feel grateful,” he said. “I feel grateful because it could have happened any other way. I mean, think about how many lives were probably saved because of that decision.”
About the actors
According to The Register Guard, Withers began his acting career in 2021. He had a guest role on “Atlanta” and acted in the 2025 films “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Him.” He has leading roles in “Reminders of Him,” released this year, and the upcoming rom-com “Love Love.”
Kaluuya, an English actor, writer and producer, got a best actor Oscar nomination for “Get Out” in 2017. He won the Oscar for best supporting actor in 2021 for playing Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah.”