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Chicago Airport Incident Causing Backups At BWI Marshall

LINTHICUM, Md. (WJZ) -- Air traffic is slowly moving again in Chicago's airspace after a fire at a nearby radar facility forced the FAA to order ground stops. More than 850 flights were canceled in Chicago alone, causing backups at airports all across the country, including here in Maryland.

Meghan McCorkell explains how travel is slowly getting back to normal.

There are still some flight cancellations at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport--mostly in and out of Chicago--after that incident early Friday morning.

Emergency vehicles surrounded an FAA air traffic control facility in Illinois after investigators say a disgruntled contract worker set numerous fires inside and tried to stab himself.

"He has fire burns on his body. He does have knife wounds on his body. But to what extent, we don't know."

The radar facility is the fifth busiest in the country controlling air space in four states. All flights to and from Chicago were grounded, stranding passengers.

"Here we are. We're in a long line now. I'm with my whole family here. So we might not be going to a wedding this weekend," said Tom Ahern, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The incident has had a ripple effect across the country. At BWI, dozens of flights have either been canceled or delayed.

"The airlines have been working with the FAA. Those flight cancellations started early this morning and have really been in place for much of the day here at BWI Marshall," said Jonathan Dean, BWI spokesperson.

Frankie Lawrence has been trying to get to Chicago since 8 a.m. Friday morning so she can take her teenage daughter on a tour of Northwestern University.

"We got to National at 7 o'clock this morning, and that flight was canceled. They put me on a flight out of BWI and got here, and that flight was canceled," she said.

Now, she and other travelers are playing the waiting game and plotting a plan B.

"If they cancel it, we'll see if they re-book us tomorrow. Then we'll decide whether to rent a car and drive the 12 hours back to Chicago," said Joe Havrilko.

Either way, it will be a much longer trip than expected.

While flights are slowly resuming, about 1,800 of them total were canceled. That means some people won't be getting to their destination until Saturday.

Travelers are urged to check-in with their airlines about residual delays if traveling Friday or even Saturday.

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