Flights at Blue Grass Airport canceled as Atlanta airport grinds to a halt

Several Delta Airlines flights between Atlanta and Lexington were reported canceled late Sunday after a sudden power outage at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

The power outage — for which no explanation was immediately available — left scores of flights grounded in Atlanta and thousands of passengers milling about in darkened terminals for hours, according to news reports. The lights went out at the airport around 1 p.m.

As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Bluegrass Airport was reporting the cancellation of all remaining Delta flights to and from Atlanta except for Flight 692, which was still scheduled to arrive at 11:35 p.m.

Atlanta airport spokesman Reese McCranie said all airport operations were affected when the electricity went out, including outgoing flights, which were halted. Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration implemented a “ground stop,” meaning flights heading to Atlanta were held on the ground at their departure airport.

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Service said on Twitter that due to the power outage, international flights were being diverted to other airports.

McCranie said later that emergency power was restored but not all power.

According to a Georgia Power statement, a fire in an underground electrical facility may have been responsible for the outage. The cause of the fire was not known.

“No personnel or passengers were in danger at any time,” the statement said. Spokeswoman Holly Crawford said no areas outside of the airport were affected by the power cut.

Delta Airlines, which has its headquarters at the airport, said more than 450 mainline and regional flights were canceled. The airlines encouraged passengers to check on the status of flights via the Fly Delta mobile app or delta.com before heading to the airport.

A Southwest Airlines spokesman said in an email to The Associated Press that about 70 Atlanta departures out of 120 scheduled for Sunday were canceled. American Airlines spokeswoman Alexis Aran Coello said three of the carrier’s flights have been diverted and there have been “a couple of cancellations,” but American isn’t seriously impacted because Atlanta is not one of its hub airports.

Delta passenger Emilia Duca was on her way to Wisconsin from Bogota, Colombia, when she got stuck in Atlanta. She said police made passengers who were in the baggage claim area to move to a higher floor. She said restaurants and shops were closed.

“A lot of people are arriving, and no one is going out. No one is saying anything official. We are stuck here,” she said. “It’s a nightmare.”

Mozell Smith, 68, of Atlanta arrived at the airport at about 4 p.m., hours after the electricity went off. He was headed to Las Vegas with a sister and a friend.

“This is terrible. I wish someone would’ve given us a heads-up before we got to the airport,” he said. “I wish there would have been better communication.”

The Hartsfield-Jackson airport - serving 104 million passengers a year - is the world’s busiest, a distinction it has held since 1998. The airport serves an average of 275,000 passengers daily, according to its website. Nearly 2,500 planes arrive and depart each day.

Herald-Leader staff writer John Cheves contributed to this report.

This story was originally published December 17, 2017 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Flights at Blue Grass Airport canceled as Atlanta airport grinds to a halt."