Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Flight delays could persist into the evening at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport after the control tower was evacuated for an hour due to a report of smoke in an elevator shaft.
Flights couldn't take off or head for the airport for an hour after smoke was reported at 12:44 p.m. Tuesday.
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. However, the FAA says they're operating under a "ground delay" that limits the number of flights to safely manage arrivals and departures until 8 p.m.
Officials haven't determined what caused the smoke.
