Chicago flights grounded for second time in two weeks

For the second time in just a couple of weeks, dozens of flights at both of Chicago’s airports were grounded, stranding hundreds of passengers.

Delays struck hard during Monday’s evening rush hour at both airports — O’Hare International and Midway — because of a telephone outage at an Indianapolis air traffic control site, the Federal Aviation Administration said, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The Indianapolis telephones are backup lines of communication and were tapped because of a fire at the radar center in Aurora on Sept. 26. The Aurora facility is still inoperative because of that fire, which was set intentionally, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Flights at O’Hare were delayed on average one hour and 36 minus. At Midway, the average delay was 54 minutes, the FAA said.

Over the last couple weeks, dozens of flight from O’Hare have been outright cancelled, due in large part to the fire at Aurora, the Chicago Tribune said.