A few scheduled flights at Glasgow Airport were halted, leaving air travelers at a disadvantage. The medical community was also affected by the ban.

STATCARE, an air ambulance service in Louisville which also has a base at the local airport, was enroute from Louisville to Carrollton to transport a patient severely injured in an early-morning wreck when the FAA issued its ban.

John Blumenstock, executive director of STATCARE, said they were able to get permission from FAA to fly back to Louisville with the understanding that all future flights must be grounded.

"We'd handle it just like if it was the middle of a bad thunderstorm and don't fly," he said.

A Just for Kids plane was enroute to transport a critical newborn from Paducah to Louisville when the ban was issued. That plane was grounded and transported the baby by ground ambulance, Blumenstock said.

STATCARE cuts the transportation time from Glasgow to Louisville in half. By ground ambulance, it takes about 90 minutes to travel. By air ambulance, the trip only takes 45 minutes.

Blumenstock said he contacted Barren-Metcalfe Ambulance Service early Tuesday to inform them that the local STATCARE staff would be available to travel with them by ground ambulance if needed in an emergency.

STATCARE got permission from the FAA to travel across the state on an emergency basis if a disaster occurred either related to Tuesday's World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks or another disaster.

"We're just waiting for them to open up the skies," he said early Tuesday as the events unfolded.