If you’re lucky, most airport/plane ride experiences are relatively boring. You stand in queues,  take off on time, there’s little to no turbulence, you land without incident, you get off the plane, and go on your merry way.

But sometimes, it doesn’t go that way

I mean, take the people who were on flights in and out of Charlotte Douglas International Airport late last week. It initially seemed like an ordinary morning, but suddenly heavy smoke could be seen coming out of the air traffic control tower.

Fire!

A crew from the Charlotte Fire Department responded to the two-alarm fire that started at approximately 8:10 a.m. They put it out quickly and without incident.

From the Charlotte Fire Dep’t:

“At approximately 8:10 a.m., Charlotte Fire responded to a structure fire at the 5500 block Josh Birmingham Parkway (the old FAA tower). Upon our arrival heavy smoke was visible. We learned four construction workers were trapped by the smoke,” the post said. “Due to circumstances, the fire did go second alarm. The fire was controlled in 10 minutes.”

Happily, the fire was in the old traffic control tower. The new control tower began construction in 2016 and opened in 2022. The old ATC was no longer in use, and is in the midst of being demolished.

There were 4 construction workers inside the tower when the fire broke out. They were briefly trapped but were able to self-evacuate without sustaining any injuries.

The Charlotte Fire Department eventually determined the fire was started when a piece of molten slag (metal) fell down an elevator shaft onto foam insulation.

Since the old control tower wasn’t in use, it didn’t affect airport operations. But I bet it gave people a scare!

The fire is under investigation, as per the Charlotte Fire Dep’t.

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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

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