Atlanta: World's busiest airport halts flights as power outage causes 'bedlam'
 

Atlanta: World's busiest airport halts flights as power outage causes 'bedlam'

Flights have been delayed at the world's busiest airport after a partial power outage, leaving passengers stranded in dimly lit terminals or in aircraft idling on tarmacs.

The partial shutdown at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport forced the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to hold back flights bound for Atlanta.

Departures were delayed as well because equipment inside terminals was inoperative, the agency said, although the FAA flight control tower was operating normally.

The cause of the outage, which occurred just after 1:00pm (local time), was not immediately known, the airport said in a statement.

But airport spokesman Reese McCranie said all airport operations were affected, and outgoing flights were halted.

The airport was working with Georgia Power to identify the problem and fix it. The utility had crews at the airport, spokesman John Kraft said.

He could not estimate when the power might be restored.

On its website, Hartsfield-Jackson says it averages 275,000 passengers a day and, on average, almost 2,500 planes arrive and depart each day.

Photos posted on social media showed passengers sitting in partial darkness in one crowded terminal.

"Stuck on a plane at Atlanta Airport as the power is out there … bedlam inside and boredom out here!" Twitter user Jack Harris wrote.

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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-12-1...bedlam/9267576