Some Chicago flights resume after fire at FAA

A fire at a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) center grounded all air traffic at both international airports in Chicago on Friday morning and was still under investigation in the afternoon, though limited flights resumed.

The FAA said flights are currently arriving and departing at a “reduced rate” after the fire in Aurora, Ill. The two Chicago airports, O’Hare International and Midway International, released few details on their own.

{mosads}”Flights that were already in the air destined to the Chicago area were allowed to continue at a reduced rate, or proceed to an alternate destination,” the administration said in a statement. “Flights are currently arriving and departing in the Chicago area at a reduced rate.”

The Aurora police told the Chicago Tribune it was called to the scene around 5:40 a.m. local time and found a man, who was not a FAA manager or air traffic controller, with self-inflicted, non-gunshot wounds.

The Aurora Police said it appeared to be an isolated incident with a contractor and said there are “no indications of terrorism at this time,” according to a statement given to the Tribune. The fire forced an evacuation at the facility.

The FAA issued a flight restriction directly above Aurora, about 40 miles west of Chicago, that will remain in place until Saturday.

Chicago is a major airline hub in the United States, and nearly 500 flights had been canceled as of 9:15 a.m. ET, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware. The ground stop remained in effect, and the two airports reported more than 1,800 canceled flights, a number which is expected to climb. 

Tracking software showed the airspace around Chicago “nearly empty” Friday morning.

— Updated at 3:40 p.m.