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Power Outage at Atlanta Airport Snarls Operations Power Failure at Atlanta Airport Snarls Air Traffic Nationwide
(about 2 hours later)
A power failure at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday disrupted operations at the major transportation hub, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and leaving travelers stranded on planes waiting to reach their gates. ATLANTA — A power failure at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday disrupted operations at the busiest airport in the world, forcing the cancellation of more than 1,100 departing or arriving flights and stranding travelers on planes on the tarmac for hours, the authorities and passengers said.
What caused the failure around 1 p.m. was not immediately clear, nor was there an estimate for when power might be restored. The power failure at the airport, a major hub for domestic and international flights, sent a ripple of disruptions across the country, affecting flights in Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere.
On Twitter, the airport cautioned against social media reports that a construction crew had cut a power line. Many flights in the air were diverted when the power went out, and the United States Customs and Border Protection said on Twitter that international flights destined for Atlanta were rerouted to other airports.
“This is NOT confirmed,” the airport said. “We are working with @GeorgiaPower to identify and fix ASAP.” Georgia Power, the utility provider for the airport, said early Sunday evening that the failure, which occurred around 1 p.m., might have been caused by a fire that damaged an underground electrical facility and cut power to a substation serving the airport.
The power failure caused a ripple of disruptions as the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that it had put “a ground stop” for flights headed to the airport. The United States Customs and Border Protection said on Twitter that incoming international flights were diverted to other airports. The utility said it expected to restore power before midnight. The airport is the busiest in the world for passenger traffic, serving more than 104 million passengers last year, according to Airports Council International.
Delta Air Lines said on its website that more than 450 of its flights were canceled. As the sun set on Sunday, the airport descended into darkness, and at least three airlines canceled their remaining flights headed to Atlanta.
The F.A.A. said its tower had electricity and was operating normally. Travelers in the south terminal were told to leave the gates and return to the other side of the security checkpoint. But with few hotels with rooms available, many passengers rested on the baggage carousels.
“However, departures are delayed because airport equipment in the terminals is not working,” its statement said. “A ground stop means that flights headed to Atlanta are held on the ground at their departure airport.” The failure also cut off basic amenities that require electricity, including some water fountains and toilets that rely on electronic motion sensors, passengers said on social media.
The airport is the busiest in the world for passenger traffic, serving more than 104 million passengers last year, according to Airports Council International. Matt Becker said that after his plane landed from Jacksonville, Fla., around 2 p.m., the pilot told passengers there was no power at the airport and no gate where they could exit. Around 5 p.m., the pilot said airport officials had started to allow passengers to exit the planes on ladders, Mr. Becker said.
As the day dragged on, travelers vented on social media about being stranded, the need to make alternate plans and what they complained was a lack of timely information. Only five planes could disembark at a time, Mr. Becker said, quoting the pilot, and his flight was 26th in line out of 64 planes.
Nearly three hours later, Mr. Becker said he and fellow passengers had made their way off the airplane and were coming to a long lane of travelers waiting to get on buses to public transportation and car rental sites.
“It’s one of those things that you hear about but you never think it’s going to happen to you,” he said in a telephone interview.
D. J. Barron, who landed on a plane from Dallas, said the sun had set when passengers on his flight were able to exit. “There were the people with glow sticks that had to direct us,” Mr. Barron, 31, said in an interview. “There was no light.”
Airlines canceled more than 1,100 flights into or out of Atlanta, according to FlightAware, the flight data website. That figure accounted for more than 90 percent of the cancellations in the United States as of early Sunday evening.
On a Sunday with clear weather, there are usually fewer than 100 flights canceled across the United States, Sara Orsi, a spokeswoman at FlightAware, said in an email.
Delta Air Lines, the largest carrier at the airport by number of passengers, said on its website that more than 450 of its flights were canceled. A spokesman at Southwest Airlines, the second-largest carrier there, said 70 of its 120 flights out of Atlanta had been canceled, including all departing flights for the rest of the day.
A spokeswoman at American Airlines said 24 departing flights were canceled, as well as 30 arrivals.
Outside of Atlanta, passengers reported delays affecting other airports across the country.Outside of Atlanta, passengers reported delays affecting other airports across the country.
The F.A.A. said in a statement that its Atlanta tower had electricity and was operating normally but that it had it had issued a “ground stop,” which meant all flights headed to Atlanta were held at their departure airport.
As the day dragged on, travelers vented on social media about being stranded, the need to make alternate plans and what they complained was a lack of timely information. Some posted photos of passengers standing in the dark in the terminal.
The airport said on Twitter that power had been restored in Terminal F around 7:30 p.m.
William Kimble, 37, was at the Atlanta airport for a layover en route to San Antonio when the power went out. He spent hours in an airport lounge, struggling at times to use the internet with an increasingly spotty data connection.William Kimble, 37, was at the Atlanta airport for a layover en route to San Antonio when the power went out. He spent hours in an airport lounge, struggling at times to use the internet with an increasingly spotty data connection.
Despite the lack of information, he said in an interview on Twitter, “passengers here are calm,” adding, “One would assume the folks stuck out on planes are not as happy.”Despite the lack of information, he said in an interview on Twitter, “passengers here are calm,” adding, “One would assume the folks stuck out on planes are not as happy.”
Alex Ford, 25, got stranded on the tarmac shortly after landing in Atlanta. After about two hours, the pilot announced that the power company had determined the cause of the failure and that it still might take hours to fix.
“There are a lot of families here with young kids,” he said in a telephone interview. “I imagine it’s not ideal for them, but we’re doing all right over all.”
He added that many passengers were having phone service issues, making information — and entertainment — even harder to find.
John Kraft, a spokesman for Georgia Power, the utility that serves the airport, said in a telephone interview on Sunday afternoon that he could not provide details about the failure.
“We are aware of an issue at the airport,” he said. “We have crews in the field responding. We’re working closely with the airport at this time.”