Hundreds of flights at Chicago’s busy O’Hare International Airport were delayed Friday morning as part of an “equipment outage” cause by heavy winds, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to NBC Chicago.
As of 9:30 a.m., more than 730 flights and counting were listed as delayed on the FlyChicago website, with FAA showing an average delay of 84 minutes. The delays were expected to last until at least 9 p.m., the FAA site showed.
“The FAA is slowing departures at Chicago O’Hare International Airport due to a ground radar issue caused by heavy winds,” an emailed statement to NBC Chicago from the FAA said. “Technicians are working to address the problem.”
According to NBC 5 reporter Stefan Holt, the outage was impacting the Airport Surface Detection Equipment, of ASDE, which controllers use to monitor positions of planes on the taxiway. The system incorporates GPS to alert if a plane accidentally crosses onto an active runway, Holt said.
The Chicago Department of Aviation did not immediately respond to NBC Chicago’s request for comment.
The outage comes as wind gusting as high as 60 miles-per-hour blow across the Chicago area, with a high wind warning in effect for much of the day. Earlier in the morning, a ground stop was issued at O’Hare Airport due to the winds.
“They could turn damaging,” NBC 5 Storm Team Meteorologist Alicia Roman said of the strong winds. “They could blow down limbs from trees, cause power outages, blow down power lines and even create difficult travel. You can see the cameras shaking.”
NBC 5 traffic reporter Kye Martin showed a live camera out by Midway Airport as it wobbled from the winds.
“You can see the camera shaking here,” Martin said. “On the roads, we’re seeing those high winds impacting your speeds. You’re not able to go as fast as you normally would.”
The winds also left thousands of customers in Illinois without power. As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, there were more than 19,000 people in the Chicago area without power, ComEd’s outage map, with the majority of outages in Cook County.
The company said crews had already restored power for more than 55,000 customers Friday morning, noting that the strong winds came just days after more than 27,000 customers were impacted by an EF3 tornado Tuesday.
“The men and women of ComEd worked around the clock to, essentially, rebuild the grid in the highest impacted areas in two days following an EF3 tornado this week so customers were returned to service,” David Perez, executive vice president and COO of ComEd, said in a statement. “We will bring that same intensity to quickly and safely restore any impacted customers this weekend.”
In Indiana a “wind ban” was in effect for Indiana Toll Road until 6 p.m., with high-profile vehicles including triple-tractor trailers, long doubles and high-profile oversize permit loads banned from driving on the Indiana Toll Road from the Illinois state line to the South Bend West Toll Plaza.
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