Crime & Safety
De-Icing Machine Breaks at San Jose Airport; Flights Delayed
Weather causing flight problems at SFO, as well. No issues reported at Oakland Airport.
Problems with a machine used to de-ice airplane wings is causing flight delays at San Jose Mineta International Airport this morning, and winter storms back east have caused cancellations at San Francisco International Airport.
The broken de-icing machine has delayed eight flights by about an hour in San Jose, airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said.
Some planes were being pushed back from their gates to allow the sun to de-ice their wings, while a second de-icing machine used at another terminal could be brought over to help speed up the process, Barnes said.
"There's a lot of coordination happening right now to get those flights off the ground," she said.
The delays were on United Airlines, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Virgin America and U.S. Airways, Barnes said. So far, two flights at San Jose have been canceled because of wintry weather in Dallas, Barnes said.
At SFO, seven flights had been canceled as of 7 a.m., duty manager Joe Walsh said. Arrivals from New York, Washington, D.C., and Dallas have been canceled, as well as three departures to Newark, N.J.
The National Weather Service has issued winter weather advisories and storm warnings for East Coast cities from Philadelphia to Boston, making more cancellations likely later today, Walsh said.
No flight cancellations have been reported at Oakland International Airport, though anyone flying to destinations back east should check with their air carriers before leaving for the airport, airport spokesman Scott Wintner said.
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