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Newark airport control tower evacuated after burning smell, FAA says
Newark airport ground stop triggered after control tower evacuation due to burning smell, briefly halting flights before operations resumed.
1 min readMar 23, 2026 06:59 PM IST
First published on: Mar 23, 2026 at 06:58 PM IST
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An American Eagle plane moves past the FAA Air Traffic Control tower at LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in the Queens borough of New York. (AP Photo/ Representational) The control tower at Newark airport outside New York City was temporarily evacuated and officials ordered a ground stop on Monday morning after a burning smell, the FAA said.
“Arrivals and departures are temporarily paused at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey after air traffic controllers evacuated the tower because of a burning smell coming from an elevator,” the FAA said.
The pause in traffic at the busy airport came around 7:30 am Controllers returned to their station and the ground stop was lifted about half an hour later.
The incident came the morning after an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck while landing at New York’s LaGuardia airport, killing both pilots, injuring dozens and closing the facility, authorities said.
US aviation faces chronic shortages of air traffic controllers and a separate shortfall of Transportation Security Administration officers due to a partial government shutdown that has led to delays, long security lines and heightened safety concerns across airports nationwide.
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