Set fire temporarily halts flights at O'Hare, Midway airports in Chicago

All flights out of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport were temporarily halted Friday morning because of a fire at a Federal Aviation Administration traffic control center in Aurora.

A man was found with self-inflicted stab wounds and burns in the basement of the building, according to the Chicago Tribune. Tom Ahern, a spokesman for the Chicago office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said a man with access to the building used gasoline to start the fire in the basement, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The fire has been extinguished, but authorities have not said how long the flight delays and cancellations will last. The FAA said no flights scheduled to cross the Midwest would be allowed to depart until at least 10 a.m.

As of 9:35 a.m., the fire had caused about 700 flight cancellations at Chicago O'Hare and about 150 at Midway airport, according to the Chicago Department of Aviation.

In addition to cancellations, there were about 400 delays out of Chicago O'Hare as of about 8:30 a.m., according to FlightStats, and about 40 delays out of Midway airport, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The delays and cancellations in Chicago are having a ripple effect to other airports around the country, including about 40 canceled flights and at least 20 delayed flights at Milwaukee's Mitchell International Airport.

Mitchell spokeswoman Pat Rowe couldn't say how many of the delays and cancellations were due to the Chicago fire.

More here: Set fire temporarily halts flights at O'Hare, Midway airports in Chicago

FBI: Suspect sent Facebook message: 'I am about to take out' FAA facility

The man accused of setting a fire in an air traffic control center, causing the shutdown of operations at Chicago O'Hare International and nearby Midway Airport, sent a private Facebook message to a relative just before he started the blaze, the FBI says in an affidavit.

"Take a hard look in the mirror, I have," the message said, according to the affidavit. "And this is why I am about to take out ZAU [the three-letter identification for the control center] and my life. ... So I'm gonna smoke this blunt and move on, take care everyone."

Then, 36-year-old Brian Howard apparently started the fire in the control center basement, the affidavit said. When firefighters arrived, they found him lying on the floor and slicing his throat with a knife, the affidavit said.


The FBI charged Howard, a resident of Naperville, Illinois, with one count of destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities, a felony. Howard was taken to a hospital for treatment of his injuries.

The fire started at about 5:40 a.m. Friday and caused the evacuation of the air traffic control center in Aurora, Illinois, which controls flights in several Midwest states.

Airlines at O'Hare canceled 1,550 flights and 470 at Midway, the Chicago Department of Aviation said at 8:45 p.m. Friday. Southwest Airlines suspended all fights for the day at Midway and Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport.

More here: FBI: Man charged in FAA fire sent message - CNN.com

looks like the police dropped the ball.

Naperville police said he also made suicidal threats, prompting his family to ask for a well-being check Friday morning at his Naperville apartment. After speaking with Aurora officials, Naperville officers searched his apartment and found no victims, police said. Police said Howard had no real record, only a few minor traffic citations from 2007. Sources said he was angry he was going to be transferred with work to Hawaii.

It only gets better;
The man who authorities say set fire to an FAA facility in Aurora, causing flight delays that continued into the weekend, has been fired from his position as a field technician for Harris Corporation, a company spokesman said Saturday.
Brian Howard had worked for the company for eight years, Harris spokesman Jim Burke said. Harris is a government contractor working to modernize communication systems in FAA centers, which include the west suburban overflight radar facility.

Ok, Anyone want to predict how long it will take for this guy's lawyer to file an employment practices lawsuit over unjust dismissal? The argument will be that he was "mentally ill" and therefore terminating on that basis violates his human rights.

Federal charges: Suspect in FAA fire recently told he was being transferred to Hawaii

The Naperville man accused of setting fire to an FAA radar center Friday recently learned he was being transferred to Hawaii after eight years at the agency's Aurora facility, according to court records.

Brian Howard, 36, remains hospitalized with self-inflicted wounds following the incident that grounded nearly 2,000 flights in Chicago and wreaked havoc on air travel nationwide. He is expected to survive.

The effects of the fire will continue to be felt at both Chicago airports through the weekend as stranded travelers scramble to find seats on other flights. United Airlines, the biggest carrier at O'Hare International Airport, said it may cancel up to one-third of its 480 scheduled O'Hare departures on Saturday.

Howard arrived at the Aurora radar center around 5 a.m., Friday dragging a hard-sided suitcase on rollers, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court. About 30 minutes later, he posted a message on Facebook in which he said he planned to kill himself and threatened to take down ZAU, a reference to control center's three-letter call signal.

FAA fire suspect charges - Chicago Tribune




He really is nuts if he didn't want a transfer from Chicago to Hawaii!