LAX briefy loses electricity, causing air traffic contol to go on backup power
Two brief power outages Sunday evening disrupted travelers at Los Angeles International Airport, and officials were investigating what caused the momentary loss of electricity.
The power outages occurred around 7 p.m. in the airport’s central terminal and were “blips” in electrical service, lasting 1 to 2 seconds each, according to Nancy Castles, a spokeswoman for L.A. World Airports.
LAX’s operations center and air traffic control unit lost power for six to eight minutes but switched to backup power systems, Castles said. No other facilities required emergency power, she said.
Some areas around LAX were also believed to be affected, according to Terry Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Six elevators became stuck, trapping passengers, Castles said. Baggage handling at three terminals as well as Tom Bradley International Terminal was “partially operating” but restored by 10 p.m., she said.
Much of the delay and disruption for travelers owed to the need to restart computers and other equipment. X-ray machines and metal detectors had to be rebooted, a 20-minute process, while some boarding bridges — the mobile walkway that connects the terminal to the plane — had to be restarted and recalibrated, a process that can take 30 minutes.
LAX said no flights were canceled because of the outage but some departing flights were delayed by up to an hour.
The DWP said that the cause was under investigation and that all power service was restored by 9:21 p.m. The outage affected nine industrial stations, the large transformers that deliver power to bigger customers such as airports and commercial complexes, Schneider said.
Castles said that the air traffic control tower was “fully functional” and that all but one traffic light was operating.
Twitter: @MattHjourno.
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UPDATES:
12:30 a.m., Dec. 19: This article was updated with details on backup power systems.
This article was originally published at 11 p.m. on Dec. 18.
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