A power outage has impacted several areas in the international airport which serves the greater Atlanta metropolitan area, according to this message which was posted earlier today at the official Twitter account of the airport.
Breaking News: Power Outage at Atlanta Airport December 17, 2017
Officials at the airport are working to remedy the situation — but in the meantime, airplanes have not been permitted to depart; and incoming flights have reportedly been directed not to land at the airport at this time until further notice due to a ground stop which was issued by the Federal Aviation Administration of the United States.
A power outage has impacted several areas in the airport. #ATL officials are working to remedy the situation. Additional updates to come
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) December 17, 2017
The FAA has set a ground stop for flights into #ATL due to the outage. A ground stop means flights to ATL are held at departure airports.
— Atlanta Airport (@ATLairport) December 17, 2017
Passengers have been trapped aboard airplanes as a result — reportedly without food or water — as electrical power is apparently needed to park the airplanes at the gates:
https://twitter.com/mepratt15/status/942477155589611520
It would be cool if the people stuck waiting on their planes could get some water or food. We've been waiting almost an hour to get off the plane already.
— Mad Macks (@MacKornzo) December 17, 2017
Trapped in the plane waiting for power so they can park the plane at our gate! At least we were able to land. Pilot just announced that airport just stopped landing incoming flights #atlpowerless
— rgtex (@b_a_leadernow) December 17, 2017
People are also reporting being stuck in various areas of the airport — such as between escalators because agents of the Transportation Security Administration are “shouting at people to not go up or down the escalators”:
I'm stuck between escalators with about 100 people and we're not allowed up or down. Please pick up the pace–people are getting antsy.
— chaseadamsio ✨ (@chaseadamsio) December 17, 2017
TSA agents shouting at people to not go up or down the escalators.
— chaseadamsio ✨ (@chaseadamsio) December 17, 2017
Some of the people who are trapped claim to have no access to facilities such as washrooms and toilets:
Wow, stuck in the basement. No bathrooms down here. No solid stairs to use. Flights cancelled. Gee Whiz, an adventure!
— Ann WJ White (@AnnWJWhite) December 17, 2017
Traffic is apparently jammed outside of the airport, as emergency vehicles have been spotted:
— Thomas J Guzik, Jr (@guzik_thomas) December 17, 2017
Management of the airport is being chastised as a result of a supposedly delayed response to this situation:
@ATLairport You should be embarrassed about how long it took you to make an announcement on Twitter to calm passengers in terminals.
— Jared DiVincent (@JaredDiVincent) December 17, 2017
Summary
Georgia Power is aware of this situation and is currently investigating it:
We are aware of a situation currently being investigated at this time and will share more information as it becomes available. ^EC
— Georgia Power (@GeorgiaPower) December 17, 2017
No other information is available at this time, as the cause of the electrical power outage is unknown at the time this article was written; but additional updates are expected. As indicated by the aforementioned messages from Twitter, passengers are frustrated with the lack of information pertaining to this situation.
To worsen the situation, rain has started falling in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.
In the meantime, contact the airline on which you are traveling to attempt to get an update if you have not yet started traveling by airplane to or from Atlanta — and ask for a travel waiver at the very least if your flight was impacted by the power outage at the airport. The airline may refuse your request — but asking never hurts.
No travel waivers have been issued by any airline at this time as a result of this situation…
Photograph ©2016 by Brian Cohen.
