Smoke At Elgin Radar Facility Grounds All Flights Out Of O'Hare, Midway [UPDATE]
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 13, 2014 6:30PM
Update 2:35 p.m.: The source of the smoke was a motor in a bathroom ceiling fan. As of post time 180 departures from O’Hare and 12 at Midway have been canceled. In addition, dozens of arrivals into both airports have been canceled or diverted to other airports in the region.
Update 1:53 p.m.: Sun-Times wire editor Jeff Mayes tweeted that FAA personnel are being allowed back into the Elgin TRACON facility but the ground stop is still in effect.
And here travelers flying out of O'Hare and Midway Airports thought the weather would be a hindrance to their travel plans today. Flights out of both airports are currently in a "ground stop," meaning there are no flights arriving or leaving the airports, after smoke was discovered in an air traffic control facility in Elgin.
The smoke was discovered and sprinklers were activated around 11:30 a.m. at the TRACON facility (Terminal Radar Approach Controls). All FAA personnel were evacuated from the facility and air traffic operations were transferred to the FAA's Aurora location. The TRACON facilities handle air traffic controls five to 40 miles from the airports. Elgin Fire Capt. Anthony Bailek told the Sun-Times most of the smoke was situated on the second floor of the facility but they cannot find the source of the smoke as of 12:45 p.m.
ABC 7 spoke with Nora Ten Broeck, who has been sitting on a plane for over an hour.
"The only info we passengers got was there was an emergency evacuation of a regional center and there was no one in the building," she said. "At least I wasn't on an incoming plane."
More than 50 planes are currently waiting to depart from O'Hare.