Nearly 2,000 Chicago Flights Canceled After Worker Sets Fire At Radar Center

SpzToid sends this news out of Illinois: Nearly 2,000 flights in Chicago have been canceled so far today as federal aviation officials slowly resume operations at O'Hare and Midway airports following a fire that was deliberately set at an FAA radar center, apparently by a disgruntled worker. The center handles high-altitude traffic across parts of the Midwest. Controllers there direct planes through the airspace and either hand off the air traffic to other facilities handling high-altitude traffic or direct the planes to terminal radar facilities, including one in Elgin, which in turn direct planes to and from airport towers.

Comments

Re:Striking air traffic controllers fired

[mi]

Remember when Ronald Reagan fired all of the air traffic controllers because they had the nerve to form a union and strike for better pay?

You mean, when they conspired to cripple the nation's air-transportation — holding the rest of us hostage? Imagine, Verizon turning off all telephones to demand lower taxes — a public employee has an even stronger monopoly power...

Now the air traffic controllers work on obsolete equipment, get paid very little, have a stressful job with long hours

That must all be Reagan's fault, right, 30 years later...

I am almost amazed no one has gone crazy before now.

Maybe, it just is not quite as bad as you are describing?