Blackout shuts down Austin-Bergstrom International airport
Passengers experienced darkness for nearly three hours
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Passengers were plunged into darkness at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport amid a power outage that sent at least one terminal building offline.
In an update on Wednesday morning, the airport said it had experienced a blackout in the main Barbara Jordan Terminal building just before 5am.
“Airport teams have been dispatched to investigate the cause of the outage,” the airport said. “If you are in the terminal, please follow instructions by AUS staff.”
Flights were cancelled temporarily from the airport located about five miles southeast of downtown Austin, Texas, before power was restored just before 8am.
Video and images shared on social media by those inside the terminal showed departure lounges thrown into darkness and only the area around the security gate partially lit.
“Power has been out at Austin airport for over an hour,” wrote on Twitter user at the airport. “They just told us power won’t be back up for another hour…. 6:30 am at the earliest… been here since 4 am waiting for flight”.
Whilst food was handed out to passengers inside the terminal waiting, police closed off entrances to the airport to avoid congestion as traffic began to build, KXAN reported.
The airport said immediately following the outage that “No flights are departing as we work with them & our teams to find the cause and restore power,” and urged travellers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.
Hours later, the airport added in another update that power had been restored and flights would resume with delays. It remains unclear what caused the outage however.
“POWER UPDATE: Austin Energy has restored power to the terminal. TSA has begun screening passengers and we are working with APD to reopen airport roadways,” said the airport, adding: “Please check your flight status before heading out to the airport as delays continue to be expected.”
According to KAXN, it is the second incident to unfold at Bergstrom international after a false fire alarm forced passengers to evacuate on 10 August. The incidents are seemingly unrelated however.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments