Broken sprinkler system forces air traffic controllers to lower ground

ROANOKE, Va. -

Area homeowners and businesses aren't the only ones exempt from problems cause by these frigid conditions.

The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport also dealt with a pipe break due to cold weather.

Tuesday morning, the sprinkler system on the 10th floor of the air traffic control tower froze and burst.

The tower was forced to turn off electric equipment and leave the area because that water turned to ice.

Air traffic controllers were forced to head to a lower-level radar room called, "TRACON."

"They monitored the flights from the TRACON in the lower level basement of the air traffic control tower. And, pilots that came in and out of the airport came in -airplanes came in, one at a time -and pilots operated on operated on instrument approach and talked to air traffic controllers that way to come in and out of the airport," says Amanda DeHaven, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the airport.

DeHaven says there were no cancellation or delays because of the problem

Air traffic controllers were back in the tower by 9o'clock Tuesday night.

In 13-hours, 42-plane took off and landed.

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Broken sprinkler system forces air traffic controllers to lower ground