Tweed Announces Reopening 8 Hours After Fuel Truck Rollover; Hundreds Of Travelers Delayed

NEW HAVEN, CT — Tweed New Haven Regional Airport was set to reopen Saturday night more than eight hours after a fuel truck overturned, forcing the airport's closure and delaying hundreds of travelers.

Tweed announced just before 8 p.m. that departures and arrivals would resume, with four arrivals and four departures before 10 p.m. and three arrivals landing around 2:45 a.m. Sunday.

"This is not a decision that was made lightly but canceling these flights would have resulted in hundreds of local Connecticut residents being stranded in three destinations for the next 48 hours," the airport said in a Facebook post.

The incident that caused the delays occurred about 11:30 a.m., when a Robinson Aviation fuel truck overturned on a perimeter road at the airport. Emergency personnel responded and the truck driver was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital with minor injuries.

The truck was carrying 5,000 gallons of Jet A fuel, according to WTNH, but the airport reported only 10 gallons were spilled, with none in wetlands or waterways. The cause of the incident is under investigation.

"We will be working with DEEP to address this in the most environmentally responsible way in the coming days," the airport said.