All flights in and out of Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey were halted Monday morning after smoke billowing from an elevator prompted air traffic controllers to evacuate the tower.
The AP reports that the Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed the closures, but would not speculate further about the cause of the offensive fumes or their specific nature.
During the pause, FAA personnel relocated to a backup tower at the airport, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.
They later returned to the primary tower, the AP report makes clear. It continued:
Earlier this month, four airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, Virginia halted all flights for more than an hour due to a strong chemical odor that was disrupting air traffic controllers.
Federal Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said the source of the strong odor was traced to a circuit board that had overheated and was replaced.
The Newark Liberty was not linked to the deadly crash at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night.
In that episode, two people died and several others were seriously injured when an Air Canada regional jet hit a fire truck on the runway during landing, Breitbart News reports.
