Fog causes two flight cancellations, delays 43

Heavy fog delayed flights into and out of John Wayne Airport Wednesday.

Usually departures start leaving the airport at 7 a.m., but because the whole area was socked in a thick white haze no planes took off until after 9 a.m. In all, 4,500 passengers were affected as two flights were canceled and 43 others were delayed from 20 minutes to three hours.

Wednesday’s incident was only the second of its kind this year, the last being around Thanksgiving.

Airplanes can fly safely in some severe weather conditions. The torrential rain that hit Orange County throughout December didn’t stop flights from coming in and going out.

But heavy fog — although it might seem less harmful — can be worse for schedules, according to airport spokeswoman Jenny Wedge.

“Fog reduces visibility because it is very dense and pilots must be able to visually see the runway when they are approaching for a landing or preparing for departure,” Wedge said.

Operations were reportedly back to normal by the afternoon, but airport officials suggest that passengers call their airlines before going to the airport to make sure their flights are on time.

— Alan Blank