Bizarre Suicide Attempt By Disgruntled FAA Employee In Chicago Disrupts Flights At LaGuardia, Other Cities
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Flights resumed taking off and landing again at Chicago's two airports late Friday, after a fire at a suburban air traffic control center forced hundreds of cancellations.
As CBS 2's Dick Brennan reported, O'Hare International Airport in Chicago has been renowned historically as the world's busiest. But on Friday morning, nary a flight was landing or even on the runway.
All flights in and out of O'Hare and Midway International airports were halted for more than five hours, causing disruptions across the U.S. air travel network.
The fire was intentionally set by a disgruntled contract employee of the Federal Aviation Administration in an apparent suicide attempt, according to officials.
The early morning fire forced the evacuation of the control center in Aurora -- in Kane County, Illinois about 40 miles west of downtown Chicago.
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Chief Correspondent Jay Levine of WBBM-TV, CBS 2 Chicago reported the suspect allegedly set several separate fires with rags and gasoline in the basement. In so doing, he managed to shut down all radar and communications systems in the facility.
Investigators said the suspect, who deals with computer systems in the building, had enough knowledge to strategically cause as much damage as possible to sabotage the computers that run all the operational systems, CBS Chicago reported.
On Friday evening, the suspect – identified by the FBI as Brian Howard, 36, of the Chicago suburb of Naperville – was charged in a criminal complaint with destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony.
Howard, a contract employee, was recently advised he would be transferred to Hawaii, court documents said.
The FBI said Howard entered the Aurora facility with a black hard-sided rollerboard suitcase shortly after 5 a.m. Central Time, and law enforcement about half an hour later noticed a Facebook posting on an account in Howard's name made reference to the Aurora facility.
"Take a hard look in the mirror, I have. And this is why I am about to take out ZAU (the control center) and my life," the Facebook message said, according to an FBI special agent's comments in an affidavit. "April, Pop, luv you guys and I am sorry. Leaving you with a big mess. Do your best to move on quickly from me please. Feel like I give a (expletive) for the first time in a long time again … but not for too long (haha!) So I'm gonna smoke this blunt and move on, take care everyone."
Aurora Fire Department paramedics entered the basement of the facility after a 911 call at 5:42 a.m. Central Time, and followed a trail of blood to find a knife and lighter and then an injured, shirtless man identified as Howard, the complaint alleged.
"Howard was in the process of actively slicing his throat with another knife," the federal affidavit says. The injured man reportedly told the first-responders to "leave me alone."
Howard had suffered self-inflicted knife wounds as well as burns to his body, said Thomas Ahern, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which was taking part in the investigation. He was taken to a hospital.
If convicted, Howard faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.
There was fire damage to some wiring in the building, as well as water damage from the sprinkler system, Ahern said. CBS Chicago reported the facility may not be back online for days.
Another employee of the facility was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. The flames were extinguished by 7 a.m., according to Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli.
The FBI, the FAA and local police and fire departments were also investigating, interviewing witnesses and other employees.
All the controllers at the facility were put on administrative leave and are not to report to the facility for foreseeable future, CBS Chicago reported. They were told to call their supervisors on Monday for the latest instructions.
Police said the incident was not connected to terrorism.
Coverage From CBS Chicago:
Air Traffic Goes Haywire Nationwide After Incident
With nobody at the control center to communicate with flights, travel erupted into chaos around the country. United, American, Delta and Southwest airlines scrapped more than 1,000 flights combined.
By noon, CBS 2's Carolyn Gusoff reported 1,500 flights had been canceled across the country. Online radar images showed a gaping hole in the nation's air traffic map over the upper Midwest.
Indeed, the disruption at New York City area airports amounted to far more than a little ripple effect. It was more like waves of delays and cancellations.
Many travelers at LaGuardia who planned to fly to or through Chicago with no choice but to go home and try again on Saturday.
"I was supposed to get on a 10:25 flight, but that was canceled, so they said everybody's going home," said passenger Julia Basin.
"I was going to try to find another flight, but I'm just giving up," added passenger Nicolas Giaquinto. "It's just not worth it."
More than 850 morning flights were canceled in Chicago alone. At LaGuardia, plenty of people were still stranded hours later.
"We just found out right now. Everything's canceled, and we get no information right now 'til we just got here," said Joseph Terzi of Las Vegas.
Terzi and his family tried to put some positive spin on their grounded flight. They had come to New York to see Derek Jeter's last home game at Yankee Stadium, and they were given the opportunity to celebrate another night.
Australian couple Peter Gagliardi and his wife, Kristy, were supposed to fly to Milwaukee through Chicago. They stood in line for two hours before Southwest Airlines gave them the bad news.
"They had some troubles over in Chicago so we've had our flight canceled to Milwaukee so we've got to stay here another couple of days and try to get some accommodations," Gagliardi told 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera.
Tom Ziegler, of Chicago, said he was on vacation in Martha's Vineyard and drove down to LaGuardia on Friday to catch a flight home.
"We didn't really know until we actually checked in our rental car. So when we checked our flight it just said canceled," Ziegler said.
David Dresner of Albuquerque had a Southwest flight home with a stop in Chicago.
"I had no idea what was going to happen until I got here," Dresner said. "Now I am waiting to find out if I can get a voucher for a new ticket and find a place to sleep."
Businessman Roy Smythe said he was stuck for five hours.
"I had a 6 a.m. flight and two meetings scheduled and I've now missed them both," he said.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond was at Newark Liberty International Airport where flights to O'Hare and Midway were canceled across the board. Diamond did report seeing a scheduled flight on United Airlines at 8:10 p.m.
By midday, a few flights began taking off and landing again at O'Hare and Midway airports after a nearly five-hour gap. But the planes were moving at a much-reduced pace, officials said, and no one could be sure when full service would resume.
On Friday evening, the FAA was managing its Chicago center traffic through other radar centers in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and Minneapolis. Flights Friday evening were arriving and departing the Chicago area at a reduced rate.
But as CBS 2's Lou Young reported, it was still taking flight crews longer than usual to get equipment and flight crews into position, and thus, lengthening delays persisted.
"I just got a flight to Minneapolis," said traveler Lisa Small. "It was $1,000 one way, which is ridiculous."
"We were going to drive to LaGuardia, but on the way, it got canceled, so we stopped here to see if we could get a flight," said traveler Brooks Berkley.
The delays across the country were expected to persist through the weekend and even next week, Young reported.
Not The First Fire To Cause Air Traffic Headaches
This is the second time in months that a fire at one of Chicago's major control facilities halted air traffic over five states.
In May, an electrical problem forced the evacuation of a regional radar facility in the northwest Chicago suburb of Elgin. A bathroom exhaust fan overheated and melted insulation on some wires, sending smoke through the facility's ventilation system and into the control room.
That site was evacuated for three hours, and more than 1,100 flights were canceled.
The Aurora facility, known as an en route center, handles aircraft flying at high altitudes, including those approaching or leaving Chicago airports. Air traffic closer to the airports is handled by a different facility and by the control towers located at the airfields.
A computer glitch at a similar facility on the West Coast in April forced a 45-minute shutdown at Los Angeles International Airport.
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