Newark Liberty International Airport temporarily suspended all arrivals and departures on Monday morning after air traffic controllers evacuated their tower due to a burning smell from an elevator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
The FAA confirmed that no fire occurred, and the disruption lasted less than an hour. No injuries were reported. Staff relocated to a backup tower during the operational pause, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees the airport.
This incident follows a similar event earlier this month, when a strong chemical smell halted flights for over an hour at four airports serving Washington, D.C., Baltimore, and Richmond, Virginia. Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that odor was caused by an overheated circuit board, which was replaced.
Officials clarified that the Newark disruption was unrelated to a fatal accident at New York’s LaGuardia Airport on Sunday night, where a Jazz Aviation flight arriving from Montreal with 76 passengers crashed into a Port Authority truck on the runway. Forty-one passengers were taken to hospital, with nine still receiving treatment; two others, a sergeant and an officer, are in stable condition with broken limbs.
