Flight delays and cancellations are expected to continue at Chicago’s two airports following a fire set at a radar facility in Aurora on Friday. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is calling for an investigation into the FAA emergency protocols following the incident. Meanwhile, the suspect, Brian Howard, appears in court and faces one count of destruction of aircraft facilities. Carol Marinis joined by Deborah Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council, Phil Rogers, who has been covering this story for NBC 5 News, and Rob Mark, a commercial pilot, publisher of Jetwhine.com, and former FAA tower and radar controller around Chicago, to talk about the system-wide repercussions, what's being done now, and security in the future.

Brian Howard, a contract employee at the FAA control center, arrived at the Aurora facility at 5:06 am on Friday, Sept. 26, according to the criminal complaint. Video surveillance shows Howard dragging a black Pelican case when he entered the control room.

Approximately 30 minutes later, a private message was posted on a Facebook account held by Howard; a relative of Howard’s saw the message and forwarded it to the Naperville Police Department, who then forwarded it to the Aurora Police Department, according to the complaint.

At approximately 5:42 am, an individual within the control center called 911 and reported the control center was on fire. When emergency responders arrived, paramedics found Howard with a knife to his throat. Paramedics were able to take the knife away from Howard and transported him to a hospital in Aurora.

The fire extensively damaged the basement of the FAA facility in Aurora, shut down both O’Hare International Airport and Midway Airport, and led to the cancellation of thousands of flights.

View flights around Chicago the day before a fire was set at a radar facility in Aurora and the day the fire was set.

File Attachments:

howard-complaint.pdf