The air traffic control tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was briefly evacuated on Friday after a fire alarm and reports of a gas smell. The incident occurred around 5 p.m., triggering a ground stop for all inbound flights until 6:15 p.m. The restriction was lifted approximately 45 minutes later, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.
“Just keep taxiing V then F,” one controller instructed a pilot via LiveATC.net recording. “Were evacuating, so we are going ATC Zero, so you can call the ramp when you get close.” “ATC Zero” indicates the FAA facility ceased providing air traffic control services. Another controller warned pilots, “Everyone is going downstairs, so we’ll see what is happening here.” A ground controller added, “The frequency is going to be unmanned for a while… Just hold tight.”
Flights bound for the airport were forced into holding patterns or diversions, with some aircraft landing under approach controllers’ guidance. An FAA official confirmed Atlanta Fire Rescue investigated the situation. FlightAware.com数据显示 flight delays surged from 280 to 360 during the outage, while canceled flights exceeded 600 by nightfall. Ten flights were canceled on Friday.
Firefighters reported no gas was detected in the tower.