Chicago’s O’Hare and Midway airports came to a standstill Friday afternoon, among the first in the country. The nationwide ground stop remains in effect, and airlines are canceling more evening flights.
Departures from O’Hare and Midway were halted at about 2:10 p.m. because of equipment failure, before the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grounded planes across the country at 2:54 p.m. Chicago time. According to CNN, citing a source at an airline, the trouble with network routers reportedly began at Midway and spread from there to the rest of the system. The FAA has not officially confirmed this.
At 5 p.m., 208 flights had been canceled at O’Hare, with an average delay of 85 minutes. At Midway, 5 flights were canceled, and passengers waited an average of 101 minutes. United Airlines, for which O’Hare is one of the main hubs, said it would cancel most of its remaining evening flights.
O’Hare is also one of the airports where planes turned back from their routes were directed. Individual international flights are being cleared for takeoff. When a Lufthansa plane bound for Frankfurt received permission, passengers in the terminal applauded.
The FAA says the cause was a telecommunications failure at air traffic control centers, and departures will resume gradually as communications are restored. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said nothing indicates a deliberate attack. No date for the full resumption of flights has been given. More than 5,000 flights have already been canceled nationwide.
Anyone scheduled to fly Friday evening or Saturday should check their flight status with the airline before leaving for the airport. Airlines are allowing passengers to change their reservations free of charge. Over the weekend, track work on the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) Blue Line will make getting to O’Hare more difficult.
Source: Polski.FM
