The Federal Aviation Administration briefly suspended departures from all New York City-area, Philadelphia, and other airports on Saturday afternoon because of concerns about the coronavirus infecting staff.
Departures were grounded and incoming flights diverted beginning around 1:30 p.m. ET. An hour later, airports began to reopen.
The temporary grounding of flights happened after an air traffic trainee at the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center in Ronkonkoma, which is located on Long Island, tested positive for the COVID-19 virus, the FAA said on Saturday.
Very few airborne aircraft right now in New York City airspace. pic.twitter.com/E7gXIukiBf
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) March 21, 2020
“The trainee has not been at the facility since March 17. We have contacted local health authorities and we are developing a plan to quickly sanitize/clean the affected areas. The center remains open and operational,” the agency said.
This comes one day after the FAA said the air traffic control tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City was temporarily shutting down after a technician tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday. Air traffic controllers were operating from an “alternate location” at the airport, and a “thorough cleaning” of the tower was scheduled, the agency said.
Earlier in the week, the FAA said the air traffic control tower at Chicago’s Midway Airport would temporarily close after workers at the facility tested positive for the coronavirus.
