SYDNEY: Flights at Sydney Airport were grounded for more than an hour on Friday (Mar 29) after smoke was detected at its air traffic control tower.

The control tower was evacuated, although it was "not in lockdown", air navigation service provider Airservices Australia said.



"There is a full ground stop in place with no aircraft departing or arriving at this time at Sydney Airport," it said at around 12pm local time (9am Singapore time) on Twitter.

The Sydney Air Traffic Control Tower has been evacuated after smoke was detected. There is a full ground stop in place with no aircraft departing or arriving at this time @SydneyAirport. We will update you as soon as we know more. pic.twitter.com/Riw1l59tDP — AirservicesAustralia (@AirservicesNews) March 29, 2019

Airservices Australia about 20 minutes later said that it had started processing arrivals.

"Aircraft are landing albeit a slower rate. Nil departures at this time," it said.





Virgin Australia said in a tweet that no aircraft was flying in and out of Sydney Airport.



Due to the Sydney Air Traffic Control tower being evacuated, there are currently no aircraft flying in and out of Sydney Airport. We will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available. To check your flight status, click here: https://t.co/m479B0nZMc — Virgin Australia (@VirginAustralia) March 29, 2019

Screengrab from Flightradar24.

Flight monitoring site Flightradar24 showed multiple aircraft clustering around Sydney Airport.

Passengers stuck in the airport and in planes on the tarmac also posted on social media.

When you’re on the tarmac @SydneyAirport about to take off for holidays and the pilot announces a fire in the control tower, everyone’s been evacuated and airport in lockdown #FMD #badvariance — Jeremy Scott (@DreamTeamJeremy) March 29, 2019

Stuck in @SydneyAirport ... all flights incoming and outgoing suspended due to reported fire in air traffic control tower. Let’s hope they get it sorted soon! — Dane Lam (@danealam) March 29, 2019

Airservices Australia said at 1.19pm that flights have resumed after firefighters cleared staff to return to the tower.

"We are fully back to operations at Sydney Tower. Departures are running smoothly. All restrictions lifted," it said.

Australia's News.com.au reported that a malfunctioning battery pack attached to the control tower’s computer system had started to smoke at 11.40am, causing the fire alarm to go off. Twenty people were evacuated from the building.



New South Wales Fire and Rescue Superintendent Bryce Jonas told the news site that firefighters were called to reports of a burning smell in the tower.

“The internal components of the battery pack system had started to smoke which created that nasty, electrical burning smell,” he said.



An electrician was called in to get rid of the smoking battery pack, he added.

