Chicago Airport Groundstop: Nearly 700 Flights Canceled After Smoke Reported in FAA Building

Almost 700 flights were canceled at Chicago's two major airports after an electrical problem inside a Federal Aviation Administration building forced officials to halt air traffic for several hours on Tuesday, NBC Chicago reports.

The Federal Aviation Administration says personnel were evacuated from the Chicago Terminal Radar Approach Control, or TRACON, facility in suburban Elgin at around 11:30 a.m. after an electrical problem sent smoke into the control room. They were allowed to return about two hours later.

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Elgin Fire Capt. Anthony Bialek says a bathroom exhaust fan in a ceiling overheated and melted some wires, and smoke was pushed throughout the facility's ventilation system.

Controllers at the TRACON facility are responsible for managing the region's air traffic as it leaves and approaches all of the area's airports. Once an aircraft is within about 5 miles of an airport, TRACON workers hand over control to that airport's tower.

Over 600 flights were delayed or canceled at Chicago O’Hare and another 150 were delayed or canceled at Midway according to flight tracker Flighaware.com.

Aerial TV footage Tuesday afternoon showed a large backup of aircraft along taxiways at O'Hare International Airport. Inside the terminals, people trying to rebook on later flights formed long lines.

WISN reports that an elderly man died after his plane was diverted from Chicago.

David Winter of Sarasota, Florida, said he and his wife, Denise, would stay overnight in Chicago after their flight was canceled.

Instead, the retired couple stopped off at an airport cocktail lounge.

"So, obviously, we're not in dire straits," he said.

The Chicago Department of Aviation said a limited number of landings and departures had resumed by late afternoon.

As of about 3:30 p.m., arrivals at O'Hare were about 75 percent of normal - 72 an hour compared with the normal of about 106 per hour, said Doug Church, a spokesman for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, the union that represents controllers. Departures were operating normally, he said.

O'Hare is the second-busiest airport in the country by numbers of passengers and is a major hub. Around half of passengers there are connecting to other flights.

Any disruption to its operations has an enormous ripple effect on the nation's aviation system.

The Chicago Aviation Department said more than 600 flights were canceled at O'Hare and 75 at Midway International Airport.

A computer glitch at a similar facility last month forced a 45-minute shutdown at Los Angeles International Airport.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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