https://www.fox5ny.com/news/control-tower-evacuated-at-newark-airportAn apparent evacuation of a control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport on Christmas Eve due to a burst water pipe has caused dozens of departing flights to be delayed or cancelled and incoming flights to be held on the ground at their originating airports for more than three hours Saturday evening, according to the FlightAware website.
The site said departing flights are being delayed at least an hour and 20 minutes, with that time climbing. And arriving flights are being delayed for nearly four hours at their originating airports. The Federal Aviation Administration website said Newark delays are averaging three hours and 43 minutes.
There have been at least 191 flight cancellations for Newark in the past 24 hours, according to FlightAware.
Christmas Eve travelers took to Twitter to express their frustration about their holiday travel plans being disrupted. Some described being stuck in the airport with their children, having to find a hotel room after their flight was cancelled. Other talked about being stuck in their plane on the tarmac for more than an hour.
Even flights that successfully landed at Newark have had to wait on the tarmac for over an hour before heading to a gate to unboard, according to one Twitter post. A number of flights that were scheduled to depart from Terminal C for Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 4:30 p.m. Saturday had been delayed until at least 9:30 p.m., according to the website newarkairport.com. Flights to Orlando scheduled to depart at 6 p.m. were delayed until at least 10 p.m. Flights scheduled to depart at 6:45 p.m. to Los Angeles were delayed until 10:30 p.m.
