Deliberately Set Fire Grounds Denver Flights To Chicago
DENVER (CBS4) - A deliberate fire at a suburban Chicago air traffic control facility canceled flights out of Denver International Airport, grounded passengers and snarled traffic across the Midwest on Friday.
Police said a contract employee at the facility was found with self-inflicted stab wounds. Investigators said he used gasoline to deliberately set the fire.
The employee, 36-year-old Brian Howard, has been charged with a felony county of destruction of aircraft facilities.
According to a criminal complaint, Howard entered the facility with a black rollerboard suitcase and, a half an hour later, posted a private Facebook message that read in part: "take a hard look in the mirror, i have. And this is why i am about to take out zau, and my life." ZAU are the call letters for the FAA facility.
First responders discovered a trail of blood that led to Howard, who was slicing his own throat. He remains hospitalized.
The fire affected nearly 2,000 flights, and canceled Chicago- and Milwaukee-bound flights on Southwest and American airlines from DIA. Some other flights have also been delayed.
The damage was so severe, other radar facilities will have to take over some operations for the damage one.
Many passengers in Denver were trying to get rerouted. That included Johnny Bratton and the basketball team he coaches that was trying to get to a tournament in the Midwest. He said the airlines' representatives were responsive.
"They've been great. They've been very helpful. They've told us what's going on. They've informed us of the events as they've unfolded. And so we're just standing by to see if we're going to go to be able to go to Chicago and play ball," Bratton said.
RELATED: CBSChicago.com Coverage
The employee's actions will raise questions, CBS News' transportation safety expert said.
"The FAA is going to be looking into this contractor, the company he worked for, how he ended up getting this job," Mark Rosenker said.
