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Dennis McCormack of Rockaway, N.J. checks the departure board only to find out that his flight to Newark, N.J. has been canceled at O'Hare International Airport. All flights in and out of Chicago's two airports were haltedafter a fire at a suburban air traffic control facility sent delays and cancellations rippling through the U.S. air travel network.
AP Photo/Paul BeatyCHICAGO (AP) — A fire at an air traffic control facility in suburban Chicago has caused more than 800 flights to be canceled at the city's airports today, and sent delays rippling through the nation's air travel network.
The fire was quickly put out. It began in the basement of the Chicago Air Route Traffic Control Center in Aurora, about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago. The center was evacuated because of the fire, and management of the region's air space was transferred to other facilities.
A city spokesman in Aurora says emergency crews discovered a man in the basement of the facility with a self-inflicted wound and took him to the hospital. It's not clear whether the man had anything to do with the fire.
An employee at the facility was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
It's the second time since May that a problem at one of the Chicago area's 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.
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