Passengers are stranded and flights have been diverted after Atlanta’s Hartsfield- Jackson International Airport – the nation’s busiest – experienced a power outage.
The outage happened around 12.55pm today, NBC11 reports. Delta Airlines released a statement at 4.00pm that states in part: ‘The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
Stranded passengers are left in long lines across the airport’s two terminals.
A power outage hit Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport around 12:55pm today
Windowless portions of the airport were plunged into complete darkness and thousands of passengers have been stranded inside
The cause of the outage is not yet known; a pilot in one of the 30 stranded planes on the airport’s tarmac said a construction crew worker had cut a power line but this was not confirmed
All outbound flights have been delayed and inbound ones – before the outage became known – have been parked on the runway
About 30 planes are grounded on the tarmac as airport officials decided to both hold inbound flights and delay departure ones, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
And smoke has apparently filled an area of Concourse D, according to witnesses inside speaking to the Journal-Constitution.
Meanwhile, stores are not able to sell products such as water and food due to the outage.
‘No one seems to know what they’re doing,’ a woman told the Journal-Constitution.
A passenger on a parked Delta flight told the Journal-Constitution that as of 3.10pm, passengers were told that the ordeal would be a ‘longer process now instead of a shorter one’.
Passengers from at least one of these flights began disembarking via ladders around 3.30pm, sources told the Journal-Constitution.
One pilot on a stranded plane told passengers that a construction crew worker cut a power line, but this has not been confirmed.
Domestic flights bound for the airport have been delayed and international flights to the airport have been diverted elsewhere to other Atlanta-area airports
Passengers affected by the power outage are pictured waiting in long lines at the International Terminal
The Federal Aviation Administration notes on its website: ‘Due to OTHER / OTHER, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’
Airline agents look for answers on a mobile phone after the outage
Incoming traffic to the airport since the power outage became known is being held at departure at present.
The Federal Aviation Administration notes on its website: ‘Due to OTHER / OTHER, there is a Traffic Management Program in effect for traffic arriving Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Atlanta, GA (ATL). To see if you may be affected, select your departure airport and check “Delays by Destination”‘.
International flights into the Georgia airport are being diverted to other Atlanta-area airports, NBC11 reports.
Southwest Airlines said on Twitter that it had cancelled all remaining flights in and out of the airport for the day.
And a stranded passenger in the airport told the Journal-Constitution that an announcement recommended that travelers rebook their flights.
Delta airlines has also reportedly issued travel waivers for affected passengers.
Meanwhile, NBC11 reports that as of about 4.55pm, some power was available in the International Terminal.
The airport has consistently been the nation’s and the world’s busiest – in the former case, occasionally losing out to Chicago O’Hare – and shuttles around 275,000 passengers per day and 104million per year, according to its website.
Nearly 2,500 planes arrive and depart each day from the airport about seven miles outside of Atlanta’s central business district.
Arriving flights wait on a taxiway. A passenger on a parked Delta flight told the Journal-Constitution that as of 3:10pm, passengers were told that the ordeal would be a ‘longer process now instead of a shorter one’
The airport has consistently been the busiest in both the nation and the world