Controllers Move To Backup Facility To Avoid Gas

Firefighters ordered air traffic controllers to evacuate the Dulles International Airport tower Wednesday, after fumes from a nearby worksite permeated the building.

The fumes were reported about 10 am local time, and firefighters ordered the tower cleared, airport spokesman Robert Yingling told the Associated Press. He said the fumes were coming from a work site at the airport's main terminal.

"People in the tower started to feel ill because of a strong smell of fumes," Kieron Heflin, president of the Dulles Tower National Air Traffic Controllers Association, told CBS Radio.

The Federal Aviation Administration said a contractor was welding in the terminal area next to the tower but didn't have authorization to do so, according to the Associated Press. There's a "possibility that fumes from nearby welding went up an elevator shaft into the tower," FAA spokesman Les Dorr said.

Controllers have since shifted to a backup facility. Six people were overcome and were evaluated by paramedics, with four transported to a local hospital for treatment.

No flights were affected, he said, and the tower was being ventilated.

FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the controllers were moved to the IAD ground control tower -- normally used to coordinate aircraft at the gates.

Both towers have the same capabilities, though the backup tower has fewer work positions, Brown said.

Heflin disagreed, saying the ground control facility doesn't contain all the equipment used for handling planes in the air... including wind indicators and ground radar displays.

"We really have no procedures for working out of the ramp tower," he said.

FMI: www.metwashairports.com/Dulles/, www.natca.org/