Power outage at Mexico City airport disrupts hundreds of flights

Power outage at Mexico City airport disrupts hundreds of flights

2011-09-29 21:30:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

MEXICO CITY (BNO NEWS) -- A large power outage at Benito Juárez International Airport (AICM) in the Mexican capital of Mexico City disrupted hundreds of flights on Wednesday evening, officials said on Thursday.

The power outage began at around 7.45 p.m. local time on Wednesday when two power generators, including the main generator and an emergency generator, suffered an outage. The outage cut communications between ground personnel and from air traffic controllers operating both departures and arrivals.

In addition to the communication problems among staff, a short circuit in the airport's number six generator also caused power failures on the two runways. AICM General Director Hector Velasquez Corona said the short circuit burned cable lines connecting the airport's transformers to the runways, forcing the airport to shut down its operations.

The electrical failure had affected at least 237 flights by early Thursday morning. Velasquez Corona said take-offs resumed at around 1.15 a.m. local time while incoming flights continued at around 3 a.m. local time, although operations are not expected to normalize until mid-afternoon Thursday.

Some of the incoming flights, including several cargo flights, were diverted to other airports in the region, including airports in Guadalajara, Acapulco, Veracruz and Monterrey. At least several thousand passengers were affected by the disruption.

The exact causes of the outage was not immediately known, but airport officials have launched an investigation.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-09-29