10-hour blackout at world’s busiest airport causes chaos
A power outage at the busiest airport in the United States has grounded flights, causing a travel nightmare for passengers across the country just a week before Christmas.
Officials at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said the blackout occurred at 12.55pm local time, leaving passengers in darkness for hours in terminals or aircrafts on the tarmac.
More than 1000 flights had to be cancelled because equipment inside terminals was inoperative, although the Federal Aviation Administration flight control tower was operating normally.
The cause of the outage was not immediately known, the airport said in a statement.
More than 10 hours after the blackout began, authorities announced that electricity had been restored to several areas.
Photos and video posted on social media showed passengers sitting in partial darkness in one crowded terminal.
"Stuck on a plane at Atlanta Airport as the power is out there … bedlam inside and boredom out here!" Twitter user Jack Harris wrote.
One woman tweeted out that the “electric exit doors [are] unable to open,” and that “passengers can go no where!”
Almost 2500 planes arrive and depart Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International daily, and the airport averages 275,000 passengers per day, according to the airport’s website.