Police: Contractor Started Fire Which Shut Down Chicago Airports

Police: Contractor Started Fire Which Shut Down Chicago Airports Aurora Police discuss the fire started in a Chicago Traffic Control room which has grounded planes across the Midwest. Man found with 'self-inflicted wounds' at scene of Chicago air traffic control blaze that shut O'Hare and Midway airports and caused travel chaos across the Midwest A major ground stop that cancelled at least 800 flights in and out of Chicago this morning was partially lifted just before noon, after a fire intentionally started by an employee at a radar facility caused hours of chaos across the nation's air travel network. Flights have since started to arrive and depart 'at a reduced rate', the Federal Aviation Administration said. Thousands of frustrated fliers were left stranded after the fire broke out about 5.40am in the basement telecommunications room of the Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora - a radar facility about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago that coordinates all high-altitude aircraft coming in and out of Chicago O'Hare and Midway airports. Emergency crews found a male contract employee of the FAA with self-inflicted wounds - believed to be from a knife - and took him to a hospital, according to Aurora Police Chief Gregory Thomas. Thomas the fire was intentionally set but stressed it was not a terrorist act. The investigation was being run by the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police and fire departments, Thomas said. All flights in and out of Chicago O'Hare and Midway were subsequently grounded, and the FAA said no planes in the United States scheduled to cross the Midwest were allowed to depart until at least 10am. Between 15 and 30 people were evacuated from the facility. One man had to be treated for smoke inhalation. A spokesman for the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms told The Chicago Tribune the man at the center of the incident suffered burns and had cuts on his arms. 'Whatever his motivations were is yet to be determined,' the spokesman told the newspaper. 'We just don't know at this point why he may have done this.' More than 800 flights into and out of Chicago O'Hare and Midway were canceled by 9:20 a.m. CDT (1420 GMT), according to tracking website flightaware.com, stranding thousands of passengers. O'Hare is the nation's second-busiest airport. It is the main hub for United Airlines and a major hub for American Airlines. From January to August, more than 580,000 flights departed or landed at O'Hare, the city of Chicago said, citing Federal Aviation Administration data. Southwest Airlines Co - which operates the majority of flights at Chicago Midway - suspended all flights until noon at Midway and at Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport, the airline said in a statement. Passengers booked on flights that were cancelled will be put on later flights once the ground stop is lifted. However major delays are expected as the airlines struggle to deal with the overflow. Flight experts say the main problem affecting flights outside of Chicago is concerned with crew members, who are stuck in Chicago but likely booked for flights in connecting airports. According to CBS, the FAA's Indianapolis Center are attempting to fill the gap left by the evacuated Aurora facility 'They are doing what they can to support,' a NATCA official told CBS. 'They have one route for Chicago-area arrivals currently in operation, and are considering ways to add a second. 'They've also developed a non-radar departure route for southbound departures out of the Chicago area. 'Additionally, they are preparing to handle an increased load of East Coast traffic. In short, they're doing everything they can to assist.' It was the second time since May that a problem at one of the Chicago area's major control facilities prompted a ground stop at O'Hare and Midway international airports. In May, an electrical problem forced the evacuation of a regional radar facility in suburban Elgin. A bathroom exhaust fan overheated and melted insulation on some wires, sending smoke through the facility's ventilation system and into the control room. That site was evacuated for three hours, and more than 1,100 flights were canceled. The Aurora facility is known as an en-route center, and handles aircraft flying at high altitudes, including those on approach or leaving Chicago's airports. Air traffic closer to the airports is handled by a different facility and by the control towers located at the airfields. A computer glitch at a similar facility on the West Coast in April forced a 45-minute shutdown at Los Angeles International Airport.




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