Photo: Andres Kudacki / Getty Images News / Getty Images
Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey temporarily halted all arrivals and departures Monday (March 23) morning after air traffic controllers evacuated the control tower due to a burning smell coming from an elevator. The pause lasted less than an hour, and no injuries were reported.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it wasn't immediately clear what caused the issue, but the agency determined that no fire had occurred. During the pause, FAA staff relocated to a backup tower at the airport, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the facility. Controllers later returned to the primary tower.
The incident comes just hours after a fatal accident at LaGuardia Airport in New York, where two people were killed Sunday (March 22) night when an Air Canada regional jet struck a fire truck on a runway while landing. However, officials confirmed the Newark situation was not related to the LaGuardia crash.
The ground stop at Newark was scheduled to last until at least 8:30 a.m., roughly an hour after it started. However, delays caused by the incident likely created additional travel disruptions for passengers in the New York area, who have already been dealing with hours-long security delays due to ongoing Transportation Security Administration staffing issues.