A plane filled with passengers had to stay on the runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport amid tornado-warned storms that killed at least one person on Monday, officials said.
CHICAGO – Monday night turned terrifying for travelers at both of Chicago’s major airports as some passengers were forced to endure dangerous storms while waiting in planes on the tarmac.
A wind gust of 75 mph was recorded at O’Hare International Airport, and the National Weather Service in Chicago suggested tornadoes could have passed over both airports.
“We are seeing power flashes on both the O’Hare and Midway Airport webcams due to likely tornadoes and/or destructive wind gusts near those areas,” the agency said about 9:40 p.m. local time Monday. “Continue to take these warnings seriously!!”
The severe weather conditions, including multiple reports of tornadoes, struck Chicago on Monday night, forcing hundreds of travelers at O’Hare to take shelter as flights were delayed and canceled.
Monday saw an alarming number of over 40 tornado warnings, with nearly the entire Chicago metro area being affected at one point.
(FOX Weather)
Daniel Amato, who had boarded a flight at O’Hare to Columbia, Missouri, said he started recording “a little bit after the pilot said we had to stay put because they were evacuating the control tower.”
A plane filled with passengers had to stay on the runway at Chicago O’Hare International Airport amid tornado-warned storms that killed at least one person on Monday, July 15, officials said.
(Daniel Amato via Storyful)
“Sat through it. It was crazy,” Amato wrote on X.
William Boggs was also traveling at O’Hare as the storm hit.
“We could definitely feel it moving us,” he told FOX Weather, sharing footage from inside a United Airlines plane he was aboard at the time. “ATC (air traffic control) evacuated as we were trying to take off, so we got stuck out there.”
Video from eyewitness Michael Mason captured from inside a plane stuck on the tarmac shows the wind whipping rain against the plane’s window as the storm swept through the area.
Severe weather conditions, including a tornado, struck Chicago on Monday night, forcing hundreds of travelers at O’Hare International Airport to take shelter as flights were delayed and canceled.
A total of 16 Tornado Warnings were issued by the Chicago NWS office Monday – the third most issued in a single day. It was also the most since April 20, 2004, when 19 warnings were issued.
NWS Chicago may conduct damage surveys in as many as 29 locations.