FAA Control tower Abandoned

In article ,
Blowinginthewind wrote:

FAA Control tower Abandoned

Southwest Planes Turn Around Minutes From Green
Southwest Says Planes Could Not Land Without Air Traffic Control

Ignoring the the sarcastic comments, and somewhat puzzled by why the
tower would be abandoned, I'm curious what prevented the flight from
landing. Is there something in SW's op-specs which requires an
operating control tower to land?

It also seems odd that they would turn around and go back to
Baltimore. It would seem to make more sense to land someplace close
(like BDL) and put the pax on a bus to their final destination.