Water Main Break at JFK Airport Causes More Flight Delays
A water main break at John F. Kennedy International Airport Sunday forced officials to evacuate a terminal and cancel flights — escalating a series of blunders for the airport following closures and cancellations due to Thursday’s massive storm.
The water main break caused flooding in the airport’s Terminal 4 baggage claim, where piles of luggage left amid the chaos unfolding at the airport due to the storm sat, according to CNN.
On Twitter, JFK Airport said the flooding caused flight delays, “a shutdown of international flights into the terminal” and told passengers to check with their airlines.
Due to a water main break at #JFK Terminal 4 there are flight delays. Please check with your airline prior to coming to the airport. [53]
— Kennedy Airport (@JFKairport) January 7, 2018
.@JFKairport Terminal 4 update:
- No international arrivals at this time
- International departures not affected
- AirTrainJFK operating normally
- Taxis rerouted to departure level
- Traffic heavy into T4
- Passengers advised to contact their airline for flight status— Kennedy Airport (@JFKairport) January 7, 2018
A representative from JFK did not immediately answer a request for comment from Travel and Leisure.
Even before the water main break JFK was struggling to recover from Thursday’s Winter Storm Grayson, which tore through the East Coast and caused a slew of flight cancellations and travel delays. JFK closed Thursday as a result of the storm, and a number of passengers were still waiting for their flights over the weekend.
The storm and extreme cold that continued into the weekend “created a cascading series of issues for the airlines and terminal operators,” which included frozen equipment, staffing shortages and luggage difficulty, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement Sunday.
Additionally, two planes collided at the airport Saturday, causing no injuries but more flight delays.
