Power Outage Halts Flights At Atlanta International Airport
ATLANTA (AP) — A sudden power outage at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Sunday grounded scores of flights and stranded thousands of passengers during one of the busiest travel times of the year.
Passengers were left in the dark when the lights suddenly went out in the early afternoon.
What a day at the Atlanta Airport! Everything is still shut down, I'll be staying another night, no power in sight for this place. Emergency lights only. At least I've made some new friends! pic.twitter.com/koWKxelIU9
— Lauren Whitney (@LaurenCBS4) December 17, 2017
Airport spokesman Reese McCranie said all airport operations were affected, and outgoing flights were halted.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented a "ground stop" for flights headed to the airport. That means flights heading to Atlanta were held on the ground at their departure airport.
Chaos trying to get to a hotel shuttle. No one helping with traffic or crowd control. It's nuts out here! #atlanta pic.twitter.com/V71CtHugvg
— Lauren Whitney (@LaurenCBS4) December 17, 2017
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service said on Twitter that due to the power outage, international flights were being diverted to other airports.
It took more than six hours to restore power to one concourse.
Power on Concourse F is back ON! We are working with great urgency w/ @GeorgiaPower to restore power throughout rest of airport.
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) December 18, 2017