Flight Delays Ease at Newark Liberty Airport

Flight delays have eased at New Jersey's Newark Liberty International Airport after the control tower was evacuated due to a report of smoke in an elevator shaft.

Flights couldn't take off or head to Newark for an hour after smoke was reported at 12:44 p.m. Tuesday. Some flight delays occurred, but no major problems were reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the tower was evacuated by 1:05 p.m. and controllers managed air traffic from an alternate site. A "ground stop" was in effect for an hour, during which no flights were allowed to take off from or head to Newark.

Controllers returned to the tower at 2 p.m. and operated for several hours under a "ground delay" that limited the number of flights to safely manage arrivals and departures.

Officials haven't determined what caused the smoke.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)