Planes diverted by LAX fog, equipment failure

By: Associated Press | Wednesday, February 7, 2007 3:17 PM PST ∞

LOS ANGELES -- Dozens of airplanes were grounded or diverted from Los Angeles International Airport when fog covered the field during heavy traffic hours and a critical piece of bad-weather equipment failed, authorities said Wednesday.

However, operations were back to normal Wednesday morning.

"The weather's cleared a little bit, the equipment's back in service," said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

A light sensor on a device that measures ground visibility in fog went out at around 4 a.m., Gregor said.

Nine to 12 incoming flights had to be diverted to other airports, most of them to Ontario, he said.

The visibility at the airport later improved and the equipment wasn't needed, Gregor said. The device was fixed shortly before 8 a.m., he added.

Fog also caused problems on Tuesday night during a period of heavy traffic, Gregor said.

"Fog forced us to reduce the arrival rate," he said.

Beginning at about 7 p.m., about two dozen Los Angeles-bound flights from other Western airports were held on the ground for up to an hour, Gregor said.

LAX is near the ocean and occasionally gets night and morning fog during the summer "June gloom" period but "you can fog at any time," Gregor said.

"Is this common for this time of year? No. Is it unusual? No," he said.

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