Source: Yahoo News (Story by Cody king)
Hundreds of flights were delayed Tuesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after a water pipe burst in the airport’s main air traffic control tower, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
What we know
The incident occurred amid a brutal cold snap in Chicago, with freezing temperatures and subzero wind chills. The burst pipe took the airport’s main control tower offline overnight — triggering widespread delays.
By 6 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 600 flights in and out of O’Hare were delayed. About 60 percent of them were inbound flights.
Behind the scenes, air traffic controllers were scrambling throughout the morning and afternoon to get flights back on track.
“The captain came over the intercom and told us the air traffic tower was down, and that it’s going to delay our flight for a little bit, so we sat on the runway, waited until we had clearance and then took off,” said Caleb Jordan, who was delayed on his way to Chicago from Florida.
After the pipe burst, air traffic controllers were temporarily relocated to the airport’s north and south control towers while the issue was addressed.
In the meantime, the FAA imposed a ground delay program, which remained in effect until mid-afternoon Tuesday when officials said operations were returning to normal.
Dig deeper
Also on Tuesday, Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office announced that for the first time since 2019, O’Hare has overtaken Atlanta for the busiest airfield in the United States.
“This is more than a statistic, it’s a statement about Chicago’s momentum,” Johnson said. “From the runways of O’Hare to the neighborhoods across our city, Chicago is building, growing, and leading. We are open for business, open to the world, and once again setting the pace for the nation.”
Last year, 857,392 aircraft landed or took off at O’Hare, which is more than any other domestic airport.
“Every one of those flights represents jobs, commerce, tourism, and opportunity,” said Chicago Department of Aviation Commissioner Michael McMurray.
“Our CDA team and our key airline partners, like United Airlines and American Airlines and their many O’Hare operations workers, move mountains every day to keep O’Hare running at this busy level, no matter the season, no matter the obstacles. This achievement belongs to them—and to the people of Chicago.”
O’Hare is in the process of expanding with a brand-new Concourse D featuring 19 gates, which will cost $1.3 billion. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2028.
What’s next
The FAA has not revealed the extent of the damage caused by the burst pipe or the timeline for repairs.