Hundreds of delays were reported at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport Tuesday morning after a pipe burst overnight at an O’Hare air traffic control tower, forcing workers to evacuate and leading to a ground delay program that lasted for hours.
The incident began about 1:10 a.m., the Federal Aviation Administration told NBC Chicago, after a water pipe burst at O’Hare’s main air traffic control tower. Controllers at the main tower were evacuated, FAA spokesperson Chris Mullooly said, and were relocated to the south tower where they resumed work.
Just after 2 a.m., a ground delay program was issued for the airport by the FAA. That program remained in place until around noon.
According to FlyChicago.com, more than 400 flights were experiencing delays Tuesday, with the majority of seeing delays upwards of 45 minutes.
The main air traffic control tower at the airport remained closed Tuesday morning, Mullooly said, and estimated damage was unknown. An investigation into the burst pipe was underway.
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