Control tower personnel at Newark Liberty are heard describing the situation as "a whole mess right now", according to LiveATC audio reported by NBC News.
NBC reports that tower personnel spoke of "significant gate issues" and said "We're running out of space". One Newark controller is quoted as saying:
I'm as much in the dark as everyone else. I'm not getting any information from anybody.
NBC also reports that some airports are beginning to run out of space for planes during the nationwide ground stop.
Separately, TheStreet, citing the flight tracking app Flighty, reports at least 114 aircraft on the ground at Chicago O'Hare.
The Newark remarks come from an air traffic radio feed, not from an official statement. Neither the audio nor the Flighty figure has been independently checked.