Atlanta power cut: Tens of thousands stranded in darkness at world's busiest airport
Hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as a power outage left tens of thousands of passengers at the world's busiest airport stranded in darkened terminals or in aircraft idling on tarmacs.
The partial shutdown at the start of one of the busiest travel weeks of the year forced the Federal Aviation Administration to ground flights bound for Atlanta on Sunday.
Departures from Atlanta were also delayed because gates and other equipment inside terminals were inoperative, the agency said.
The FAA flight control tower was operating normally, but at least three major airlines - United Air Lines, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines - suspended operations at the airport for the rest of the day.
"We know that today has been challenging to all of our customers traveling in and out of Atlanta, and we regret your disappointment," Southwest said in a statement.
Georgia Power, the utility that provides electricity to the sprawling airport, said it believed the failure was linked to a fire in an underground electrical facility which damaged substations serving Hartsfield.
The cause of the blaze was not yet known, the utility said in a statement issued about six hours after the outage began, but it expected to restore service by midnight.
Photos and videos posted on social media showed passengers huddled in partial darkness inside crowded terminals.
Stuck on a plane at Atlanta Airport as the power is out there... bedlam inside and boredom out here!
— Jack Harris (@whackyjack) December 17, 2017
And we wait. #Delta crew phenomena! Every1 restless, but all under control.Hit the 3.5 hour mark of being stuck on tarmac #atlairport#cnnpic.twitter.com/ZsX2eHVfNr
— Naomi Harm (@naomiharm) December 17, 2017
#atlanta #thenightthelightswentoutingeorgia #delta #airport #nopower #planes #reallyga?
A post shared by cheforhire82 (@cheforhire82) on Dec 17, 2017 at 12:19pm PST
Other passengers live-tweeted their experiences caught up in the power outage:
Hour five waiting on the plane coming in from international to #atlairport.
Still no plan to even allow us back into the country @Delta.
This is turning into a long day.— Mike Vizdos (@mvizdos) December 17, 2017
Sounds like they may let us out soon.
I assume we are jumping into a Netflix zombie apocalypse scene via @Delta and US customs and immigration as step one.— Mike Vizdos (@mvizdos) December 17, 2017
After almost six hours. The plane door may open.
Next stop customs and immigration fun. @Delta international flight incoming @ATLairport— Mike Vizdos (@mvizdos) December 17, 2017
Off the plane. Through customs. Through immigration. They told me the bags will catch up. In line now for TSA into the connection flight. @Delta@ATLairportpic.twitter.com/AqxYVfrfkt
— Mike Vizdos (@mvizdos) December 18, 2017
Delta Air Lines said on Twitter it was working to allow customers to leave planes as quickly as possible, with only a limited number of open gates available.
In response to a question from a customer, the Atlanta-based carrier said it expected service to be restored by Sunday night, although it cautioned that the airport had yet not identified the cause of the outage.
The airline, which operates its largest hub at Hartsfield, said it canceled more than 450 mainline and regional flights on Sunday.
Update on the ATL power situation pic.twitter.com/EctZveNI9p
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) December 18, 2017
For all carriers, more than 600 flights scheduled to fly out of Hartsfield, or 54 per cent, were canceled on Sunday as of 00.00GMT (7pm EST), while 449 of all scheduled inbound flights were scratched, according to FlightAware, an airline tracking service.
International flights due to land at Hartsfield were diverted to other Atlanta-area airports, US Customs and Border Protection said.