Typhoon grounds flights, strands travelers

Strong winds from a typhoon forced air traffic controllers to abandon the control tower at Narita International Airport on Monday, temporarily shutting down all flights to one of Tokyo's two main airports. Hundreds of domestic flights were canceled at the city's other major airport.

Narita was closed from 2:20 pm after the 10 controllers left the tower when wind speeds reached 126 kilometers per hour. Seven departing flights were held up until the tower reopened at around 3 pm.

It was the first time the tower had been closed because of a typhoon. It closed once before, during the magnitude-9.0 earthquake that triggered a massive tsunami in March 2011.