A ground stop was issued for flights headed to the airport, forcing them to wait to take off.
The air traffic control tower is seen from the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport terminal, in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 15. (Photo Credit: Megan Varner/Reuters via CNN Newsource)
(CNN) — The air traffic control tower at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport was evacuated for a time Friday night after a fire alarm and a gas smell were detected, according to a statement from the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Just keep taxiing V then F,” one controller told a pilot according to a recording by LiveATC.net. “Were evacuating, so we are going ATC Zero, so you can call the ramp when you get close.”
“ATC Zero” means that the FAA facility is not providing any air traffic control services.
“Everyone is going downstairs, so we’ll see what is happening here,” one controller told a pilot he was directing.
“The frequency is going to be unmanned for a while, because I have to evacuate as well,” the ground controller told pilots. “Just hold tight.”
A ground stop was issued for flights headed to the airport, forcing them to wait to take off. Some flights in the air were able to land, with assistance from the approach controllers that normally guide planes to the airport, but usually hands them off to the tower for landing.
“We actually just landed uncontrolled,” the pilot of a flight from Greensboro, South Carolina, told other pilots. “We’re just trying to see what to do next.”
“Nobody has taxied, landed or taken off other than you in the last 15 minutes,” another pilot said.
No planes took off, from what is typically the world busiest airport, between 5:11 p.m. and 5:52 p.m., according to FlightAware. Only about five planes landed.
The Atlanta Fire Rescue Department investigated and gave the all-clear, according to an airport spokesperson.
Controllers returned to directing flights and takeoffs and landings resumed just before 6 p.m.
Air traffic controllers are considered essential employees and are required to work during the government shutdown, but won’t be paid until it’s over.
Staffing shortages have been reported at air traffic control facilities across the country this week as some controllers have stayed home, however Atlanta was not listed as short-staffed in Friday evening’s operations plan.
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