Atlanta (CNN) A power outage at the world’s busiest airport Sunday left thousands of passengers stranded in dark terminals and in planes sitting on the tarmac, as a ground stop for Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International disrupted air travel across the United States.
The outage, which affected all airport operations, started with a fire in a Georgia Power underground electrical facility, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said.
The fire’s intensity damaged two substations serving the airport, including the airport’s “redundancy system” that should have provided backup power, and delayed efforts to contain it, Reed said. Full power was expected to be restored by midnight.
“We certainly understand that the outages have caused frustration and anger and were doing everything we can to get folks back home right away,” he said, adding that the fire’s cause is still unknown.
Atlanta is the heart of the US air transport system, and the disruption led to flight delays and cancellations across the country.
Here are the latest developments:
– More than six hours into the outage, power was restored to one of seven concourses.
– Nearly 1,000 flights to and from Atlanta have been canceled, according to Flightradar24.
– Some outgoing flights have been sitting on the tarmac in Atlanta for more than six hours.
– Southwest, American and United airlines canceled operations in and out of Atlanta for the rest of Sunday.
– More than 900 Delta mainline and regional flights have been canceled and 48 flights were diverted to other airports.
– Flights headed to Atlanta are being held on the ground at their departure airport.
– Inbound flights to Atlanta are being diverted.
The blackout cut power in the terminals, leaving passengers stranded in the dark as they stood in line at gates and security checkpoints.
And, two outbound flights from Lafayette to Atlanta on Monday morning have also been cancelled. They include flights 1619 and 4948.
