Major communications equipment failures today at the regional air-traffic control center in Memphis, Tennessee has resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration clearing all airline traffic within 250 miles of Memphis.

The equipment failure has left air traffic controllers without the ability to use most of their radio frequencies, as well as some of their radar feeds. They have also not been able to make automated "handoffs" of flights to adjacent airspace sectors at other en route facilities that border Memphis. The outage was first discovered at 11:30 a.m CST, when air traffic controllers were immediately thrust into a chaotic situation and were forced to use personal cell phones to talk to other air traffic control facilities about specific flights that they could not communicate with themselves.

As a result, there have been restrictions made on air travel throughout a major portion of the country. Airports including DFW, Atlanta, and Charlotte are experiencing significant delays. Aircraft have not been permitted to take off if their route is withing Memphis' 250-mile radius of airspace, which includes 100,00 sq. miles airspace, including Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and parts of Alabama and Kentucky.

A spokesman for the FAA said that adjacent regions helped to handle the flights that were already in the air when the problem was found.

These problems led to a number of flights being grounded around the country today. The FAA did not give an immediate number of how many flights would be affected, but did say that any flight going through the region would be held on the ground, wherever it was originating from.

At this time, it is also not known when the equipment at the Memphis air traffic control center will be fixed. The FAA said it was unclear how long the repair would take.

Travelers with flights scheduled for this evening are being urged to check with their carrier to confirm their flight status.