Travel woes at DFW Airport after a fuel pump fire Friday morning temporarily halted flights. Lili Zheng reports.
A ground stop at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has been lifted and fuel is once again flowing to aircraft after a fire at a fuel pumping facility caught fire Friday morning.
The airport said Friday morning its Department of Public Service responded immediately to the fire, shut off the pump and put out the flames.
An FAA spokesperson said the fire occurred at the fuel farm on the airport's west side. The airport said that before fuel service could be restored, they'd need to do safety checks on the system. The airport said shortly before 1 p.m. that operations had been restored and that they were beginning to once again send fuel to aircraft.
"It will take some time to get fueling operations back to normal. Travelers should continue to check with their airline for flight updates," the airport said on Twitter.
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Airport officials did not say what started the fire. No injuries were announced.
The disruption occurred as some travelers like Elaine Brown were already dealing with a series of delays due to weather. Brown had a connection at DFW Airport on Thursday on her home to Virginia Beach. Her flight was moved to Friday.
"I arrived here at 10:30 in the morning and now my flight is scheduled to leave at 3:05, but it was supposed to leave at 12:15," Brown said. "I’m handicapped. They don’t make it easy for handicapped people to fly, you know…that’s why everyone wants to drive to their destination. It’s too far for me to drive. I’m on job assignment. I’ve been in New Mexico for six months. All I want to do is go home."
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Andrew Khalil and his wife were trying to get to Florida for a wedding on Friday, but their original flight to Orlando was cancelled. Two other flights that were rebooked were later cancelled, as well.
Khalil, who is traveling with his two young sons, said their plan is to catch the earliest flight out on Saturday morning.
"Thank god we’re in the same city that we live in, so these boys have their cribs and stuff when we go home," he said. "I don’t think it’s in anyone’s control, so it’s unfortunate circumstances but I don’t think there’s anything else they could have done."
Travelers headed into and out of DFW Friday are advised to check the status of their flight as delays at the airport tend to have cascading effects nationwide.
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