Cancellations and delays: RDU passengers feel the domino effect of temporary outage in the Midwest

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Nationwide air travel chaos that started Thursday night is affecting passengers at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU).

Passengers are facing the domino effect of a system outage that temporarily grounded planes throughout the Midwest and is now affecting RDU. The second is from severe weather that moved through central North Carolina during the evening hours.

Airlines are still working to recover after that air traffic control disruption.

There were more than 20 cancellations and several delays at RDU on Friday morning, and the number is changing. You can check flight status at RDU here.

The FAA says it's now investigating what caused the outage.

In the meantime, keep a close eye on your airline's app or website for the latest flight updates before heading to RDU.

What triggered the chaos?

The FAA says telecommunications issues briefly knocked out radar and radio communications at the Minneapolis Air Route Traffic Control Center Thursday evening.

That center manages a huge section of airspace across the Midwest, prompting a temporary ground stop and hundreds of flight disruptions before service was restored.

Even though the outage was relatively short, delays quickly spread across the country, including RDU.

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