Delays linger at DC area airports Tuesday following FAA facility evacuation
WASHINGTON - Flight cancellations and delays continued Tuesday at three D.C. area airports following a construction-related evacuation at a Federal Aviation Administration facility in Virginia.
The incident began Monday night when fumes from the construction work permeated the control room of the Washington Center in Leesburg.
The center, which handles high altitude flights over a five-state area in the mid-Atlantic, stopped accepting new flights and handed over airborne flights to other air traffic control facilities during the evacuation.
Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport were all impacted, with flights halted for several hours.
The FAA said in a statement that air traffic controllers resumed operations at the facility about 9:30 p.m. Monday and that delayed flights had begun to take off.
On Tuesday morning, a few stranded passengers at Reagan National Airport were still waiting for their flights to get back on schedule. Some airlines offered change waivers.
All flights and airlines are expected to resume normal operations into the day. Passengers are being advised to contact their airline before heading to the airport.