CHICAGO (AP) — Flights have begun taking off and landing again at Chicago’s two airports after a fire at a suburban air traffic control center forced hundreds of cancellations.
All flights in and out of O’Hare and Midway airports were halted for more than five hours, causing disruptions across the U.S. air travel network. More than 850 flights were canceled in Chicago alone.
Authorities say the early morning fire at the control center in Aurora was deliberately set by a contract employee of the Federal Aviation Administration. A spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says emergency crews found the suspect in the building’s basement, where the blaze began, with self-inflicted knife wounds and burns to his body. He was taken to a hospital.
Another employee of the facility was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
The fire was quickly extinguished but its effects rippled across the country, with flights being turned back, diverted to other airports, canceled or delayed.
The FAA, ATF, FBI and local police and fire departments are investigating.
Authorities say it wasn’t terrorism.
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178-a-14-(Gregory Thomas, Aurora police chief, at news conference)-“a contract employee”-Aurora, Illinois police chief Gregory Thomas says the fire set off the evacuation of the air traffic control facility. (26 Sep 2014)
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179-a-05-(Gregory Thomas, Aurora police chief, at news conference)-“and nothing else”-Aurora, Illinois police chief Gregory Thomas says the fire was not a terrorist act. (26 Sep 2014)
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APPHOTO ILPB102: Ann Walden plays with her 15 month-old daughter Delphine while waiting in-line after their flight to Baton Rouge was delayed at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, Friday, Sept. 26, 2014. All flights in and out of Chicago’s two airports were halted Friday after a fire at a suburban air traffic control facility sent delays and cancellations rippling through the U.S. air travel network. Authorities said the blaze was intentionally set by a contract employee of the Federal Aviation Administration and had no ties to terrorism. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty) (26 Sep 2014)
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APPHOTO CER101: This screen shot provided by FlightAware shows airline traffic at 10:20 a.m. EDT over the United States Friday, Sept. 26, 2014, after hundreds of flights were canceled at Chicago airports, at center, following a fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control facility. The ground stop threatened to send delays and cancellations rippling throughout the nation’s air travel network, as more than 500 flights had already been canceled in Chicago and more were expected. (AP Photo/Courtesy FlightAware) (26 Sep 2014)
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