air traffic control center shutdown at Chicago airports

Chicago airports grappling with a 'very fluid' situation in wake of air traffic control center shutdown

Lewis Lazare

Reporter- Chicago Business Journal

             

On what would otherwise have been a near perfect day for flying in the Chicago area, the city's two principal airports — O'Hare and Midway — were struggling to deal with hundreds and hundreds of canceled flights and tens of thousands of stranded passengers.
The chaos at both Chicago airports was caused by an early morning fire reported at a key Federal Aviation Administration regional air traffic control facility in west suburban Aurora. After firemen reached the scene, the facility was shut down and air traffic controllers evacuated, which caused a shutdown of operations at both Midway and O'Hare airports..
By noon, according to multiple news reports, a few flights were beginning to take off and land at O'Hare. But a spokesman for Chicago-based United Airlines, which has the largest operation at O'Hare, still described the situation at the airport as "very fluid" and declined to say exactly how many flights were starting to depart or land. "We're working closely with the FAA," he noted.

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• Fire grounds flights in and out of O'Hare, Midway; long delays expected

At Midway, as of noon local time, a Southwest spokesman said all the carrier's flights departing the south side airport remain cancelled through 7 p.m. tonight.
Midway is Southwest's largest hub, and any disruption of service there would have a massive ripple effect throughout the carrier's entire domestic route system. The Chicago Sun-Times was reporting that one Delta Air Lines flight left the gate at Midway just before noon. But that flight reportedly had not been allowed to take off.
Details about the fire at the Aurora air traffic control center and the strange circumstances surrounding the blaze were still sketchy at midday. But a person with self-inflicted wounds was reportedly found in the basement of the air traffic control center this morning, and he is believed to have had a major role in starting the fire. But according to the Chicago Tribune, Aurora police emphasized that that "there are no indications of terrorism at this time''