Lightning struck Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport's air traffic control tower Thursday afternoon, Baltimore Sun reported Sept. 12.
Lightning struck BWI airport's traffic control tower, injuring one traffic management coordinator, shutting down the airport for almost three hours, affecting 2 southwest flights, and delaying or stranding thousands of travelers.
The Federal Aviation Administration said a bolt struck the air control tower at around 2:21 p.m., leading to the suspension of arrivals and departures until around 4:45 p.m.
President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association John Dunkerly said that he has just left the said tower when the lightning strike occurred, shocking a traffic management coordinator while he was still flipping a switch to turn on a generator that acts as power backup for the runway lights.
Dunkerly said that the coordinator, whom he declined to identify, fell to his knees and experienced numbness in his arm and leg, adding that he was taken to a nearby hospital.
An FFA official said the worker did not appear to be seriously injured, and was released from the hospital a few hours after, CS Monitor reported.
To avoid the risk of other injuries, the FFA ordered for the shutting down of the airport, prompting officials to ground all departure flight and diverting all incoming ones.
Meanwhile, operations at Norfolk International Airport were also affected, leading to the cancellation and the delay of two Southwest flights.
Lauren Berry, a passenger at Norfolk tweeted after the incident: "It's so chaotic here in the Norfolk airport because of #BWI shutting down. Can't even imagine what it's like there! #IjustWannaGoToFlorida"
Baltimore Sun reported the air traffic had resumed at around 5 p.m., but the control tower remained out of commission, noting that the Potomac Terminal Radar Approach Control took over in handling air traffic control in the air space surrounding Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
The lighting strike at the airport shocked the controllers on duty, Dunkerly said, adding that it was the first incident to happen in in the 30-year-old tower.
"We didn't have any idea why it happened," Dunkerly said. "Usually [the towers] are pretty safe during these storms."
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
