Airport runway lights malfunction; flights diverted

Runway lights at the Eastern Iowa Airport malfunctioned Monday night, causing flights to be diverted to other airports.

Passengers reported and Eastern Iowa Airport officials confirmed the four-hour light malfunction on Tuesday, July 27.

A flight from Chicago was diverted to Des Moines at about 9:15 p.m. and another flight from Chicago was turned back, Airport Director Tim Bradshaw said. A departure for Las Vegas was delayed from 9 p.m. until midnight, Bradshaw said.

The short in an electrical circuit that caused the problem had been repaired by midnight.  Tuesday morning. The problem was unrelated to a major runway reconstruction problem, Bradshaw said, although the runway project had left the airport with only one available runway.

“It was just unfortunate timing,” Bradshaw said. ” We're down to one runway because of the construction.”