Two airports in Dallas have temporarily interrupted incoming and outgoing flights due to a sanitization required by Covid-19 in an air control tower.
The flights were subjected to a ground stop at Dallas Love Field and Dallas-Fort Worth International airports on Wednesday, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. A DFW tweet said the shutdown was due to a “necessary sanitizing cleanup of the FAA’s external facilities that control airspace” around the airport.
“This will result in possible delays and cancellations,” tweeted DFW.
The FAA told NBC Dallas that the strike was a combination of weather and Covid-19-related problems.
An online panel for the FAA facility showed that the staff test was positive at the Fort Worth Airway Traffic Control Center three times in the past week, including a new positive on Wednesday. The panel also reports that the air tower needed cleaning between 3 pm and 5:30 pm, local time.
Daniel Pitts told NBC Dallas that he was on American Airlines flight 422 bound for Fort Lauderdale when a pilot said the control tower was not operating due to Covid-19. Passengers were allowed to disembark and return to the terminal.
The stops at DFW and Love field were suspended at around 5:30 pm local time, although both airports expected more delays.
