The State : Lights Fail at Wayne Airport

Hundreds of passengers were stranded after Orange County’s John Wayne Airport shut down when rainfall knocked out new runway lights, officials said. All incoming flights were diverted to Ontario and Los Angeles International airports, and outgoing flights were canceled. A spokesman for American Airlines said the airport closure forced the carrier to re-route seven flights carrying a total of 300 to 400 passengers. Delta Airlines re-routed two flights. At least three American Airlines flights were diverted to Ontario. The blackout, which affected only the runway lights, was blamed on the weather, as a new system of fixtures and cables encountered its first storm and apparently suffered water damage, airport spokeswoman Kathie Rutherford said. The airport was closed for almost an hour Sunday evening after a faulty Southern California Edison cable cut power to the runway and about 1,800 airport area residents.