(CNN) — A power outage at the world’s busiest airport left thousands of passengers stranded in dark terminals and in planes sitting on the tarmac, as a ground stop for Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International disrupted air travel across the United States.
Incoming and outgoing flights at the airport were halted as crews worked to restore power. Atlanta is the heart of the US air transport system, and the disruption led to hundreds of flight delays and cancellations across the country.
Here are the latest developments:
– More than 600 flights to and from Atlanta have been canceled, including 350 departures, according to Flightradar24.
– American Airlines is canceling the rest of Sunday’s flights in and out of Atlanta.
– United is suspending operations to and from Atlanta for the rest of Sunday.
– More than 450 Delta mainline and regional flights have been canceled.
– Southwest Airlines has canceled all operations in and out of Atlanta.
– Flights headed to Atlanta are being held on the ground at their departure airport.
– Inbound flights to Atlanta are being diverted, US Customs and Border Protection said.
– Departures from the airport are delayed because electronic equipment is not working in the terminals, the FAA said.
– The cause of the incident is under investigation.
The outage affected all airport operations. The airport is working with Georgia Power to determine the cause, spokesman Reese McCranie said.
The outage cut power in the terminals, leaving passengers stranded in the dark as they stood in line at gates and security checkpoints. People used flashlights on their phones to see where they were going, said passenger Heather Kerwin, an Atlanta resident bound for New York.
“There were a few emergency lights on, but it was really dark — felt totally apocalyptic,” she said. “I decided to get the hell out of there.”
Brittny Dettro said she was waiting to board a flight from Atlanta to Milwaukee when the power went out in Terminal B. She shot this image at 1:10 p.m. ET.
The outage left passengers sitting in planes on the tarmac for hours. Jodi Green’s Delta flight from the Bahamas landed at 1:15 p.m. ET Sunday. As of 4 p.m. she was still on the plane.
The ground stop led Southwest Airlines to cancel all operations in and out of Atlanta for the rest of the day, spokesman Brian Parrish said. Customers are being offered re-bookings without fare differences, he said.
United and American Airlines also suspended operations to and from Atlanta for the rest of Sunday. Delta, which has its headquarters and largest hub in Atlanta, canceled more than 450 Delta mainline and regional flights as a result of the ground stop, the airline said in a statement.
Delta said it is working to deplane customers from aircrafts that have not been able to park at a gate due to the outage.
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