A burning smell prompted the control tower at Newark airport outside of New York City to be evacuated, and a ground stop was ordered, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Air traffic was paused around 7:30 a.m. on Monday after a burning smell originating from an elevator in the control tower was reported at Newark Liberty International Airport.
FAA personnel temporarily relocated to a backup control tower on the site before returning to the main tower once the situation was clear, and the ground stop ended roughly 30 minutes later.
The ground stop in Newark comes just hours after an Air Canada regional plane collided with an emergency vehicle at nearby LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The incident killed both the pilot and the co-pilot and injured several others.
Aboard the plane were 72 passengers and four crew members arriving in New York from Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. No passengers were injured in the collision, but nine of the Port Authority of New York firefighters are in the hospital with “serious injuries.”
LaGuardia Airport has suspended all flights and will remain closed until 2 p.m. on Monday.
The incident raises questions about communication between ground crew, pilots, and control towers as the Air Canada flight was cleared to cross the runway at the same moment the fire truck was cleared for the same path. The aircraft then struck the vehicle.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it would deploy a team of experts to investigate the collision, and Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it would do the same.
While officials have emphasized the Newark incident was unrelated, back-to-back disruptions underscore the growing concerns about strain on the U.S. aviation system.
Airports nationwide have been dealing with staffing shortages, particularly among air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers. The shortages have been exacerbated by a partial government shutdown that has led to long security lines, delays, and operational challenges at major airports.
TWO DEAD IN AIRPLANE COLLISION AT LAGUARDIA AIRPORT IN NEW YORK CITY
President Donald Trump ordered the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to assist TSA officers in managing long lines and large crowds.
Despite the president’s efforts to relieve travelers and workers of lines that wind through airports, some are still reporting extensive wait times. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Monday advised passengers to arrive at least four hours early to make their flights due to TSA wait times.
