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Runway Blackout : Wayne Airport Open After Light Failure

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Times Urban Affairs Writer

Operations were back to normal Tuesday at John Wayne Airport after the runway lights failed twice in 24 hours, causing the diversion or cancellation of more than two dozen flights.

Monday night the airport was closed when the lights went out at about 6:45 p.m. The problem was caused when the FAA tower reversed jetliner departure direction, causing jet blast to blow sandbags off of new electric cables that were not yet buried underground. The lines shorted out from stretching and from the exposure to water, said airport manager George Rebella.

“It was kind of a freak situation,” he said.

The new cable, at the north end of the main runway, would not have been affected by jet blast except that air traffic controllers reversed the takeoff pattern due to weather conditions, Rebella said. The new electrical line replaces decades-old cables that had shorted out repeatedly, Rebella said.

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A temporary replacement system had been used recently but was abandoned after the Federal Aviation Administration complained that it was inadequate.

More than a dozen airlines flights were diverted or canceled because of the electrical failure Monday night, with some passengers being bused between alternate airports.

A similar airport closure lasted about an hour Sunday evening but was due to failure of a faulty Southern California Edison Co. cable that cut power to the runway lights and about 1,800 airport area residents.

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