A contract employee set a fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control center, bringing two of the nation’s busiest airports to a halt Friday.
Brian Howard, 36, has been charged with one count of destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony, according to a complaint filed in the US district court in Chicago.
The FBI said Howard, a contract employee with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which controlled the facility in Aurora, remains hospitalised due to his injuries. No court date for him has been scheduled.
When paramedics found him, he was trying to cut his own throat, the complaint said.
Police said said the incident was not terrorist related, nor did they classify it as a suicide attempt.
By mid-afternoon O’Hare and Midway airports reported a total of 1,750 flight cancellations, the majority, 1,400 at O’Hare. Southwest Airlines suspended all flights for the entire day. For those flights that were still scheduled, the city said that delays are averaging 30 minutes or more.
Dan Ferrelli, spokesperson with the Aurora police department, said the man was being treated at a local hospital for self-inflicted injuries that did not involve a gun. The fire, in a basement facility, was extinguished within the hour and there was no explosion.
“There is no reason to believe at this time it is terrorist related. It appears to be an isolated incident,” he said.
An investigation is under way involving the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FAA, and local police and fire. The man’s dark-colored SUV was removed from the site on a flatbed trailer.
Between 15 and 30 people were evacuated and the only additional injury was a 50-year-old male who was treated and released at the scene for smoke inhalation. Fire officials say they responded to the fire at 5.42am.
The Chicago control center is the fifth busiest in the US, according to FAA data. It covers more than 90,000 square miles of the midwest.
Authorities said it was unclear how long the stoppage would last. At O’Hare’s Terminal 3, long lines formed at ticket counters as airlines continued to check in passengers.
Waiting by an American Airlines counter, Jon Sciarrini said his homebound flight to Dallas had been delayed, and he did not know whether he should wait or try to arrange another flight.
“It’s pretty frustrating – a little like being in purgatory,” the IT specialist told the Associated Press.
It was the second time since May that a problem at one of the Chicago area’s major control facilities prompted a ground stop at O’Hare and Midway international airports.
In May, an electrical problem forced the evacuation of a regional radar facility in suburban 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 enroute 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.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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