Smoke in Elevator Shaft Forces Newark Airport Tower Evacuation

The FAA has issued a ground stop, causing delays for flights leaving and landing at Newark airport

Flight delays have eased at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport after the control tower was evacuated due to a report of smoke in an elevator shaft.

Flights couldn't take off or head to Newark for an hour after smoke was reported at 12:44 p.m. Tuesday. Some flight delays occurred, but no major problems were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the tower was evacuated by 1:05 p.m. and controllers managed air traffic from an alternate site. A "ground stop" was in effect for an hour, during which no flights were allowed to take off from or head to Newark.

Controllers returned to the tower at 2 p.m. and operated for several hours under a "ground delay" that limited the number of flights to safely manage arrivals and departures.

Officials haven't determined what caused the smoke.

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Copyright AP - Associated Press
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