Power outage cripples Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport

A power outage at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport, is leaving thousands of passengers stranded and planes grounded.

Power outage cripples Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport

Busiest airport in the world.

Week before Christmas.

Power out.

I came here wondering what the buzz about it was on ATS, but it's not been posted yet. I was amazed. Sunday afternoon; folks must all be taking the day off.

What says ATS?

1. >Bad luck?
   
2. >Weakening infrastructure?
   
3. >General technical incompetence?
   
4. >Terrorist hack?
   
5. >Other?
   

Live video feed (as of Sunday afternoon)...



...

a reply to: incoserv

Ill go with Occam on this..

Chances are some piece of the infrastructure failed or human error.

a reply to: incoserv

Unfortunately, Atanta is not known for it's high tech personnel. I know this personally-family worked for Delta Tech and they are way behind the times and when Delta merged with Northwest it only got worse because the two cultures clashed.

It's a glitch or incompetence. A visit there and the pure confusion of the place explains it all. Not surprised.

Via Twitter: Terminal S just evacuated, emergency vehicle parked outside in photo.

There is separate backup power systems, generators multiple lines in etc. for everything on an airport. It doesn't make sense.
a reply to: incoserv

I'm about 2 hours north of Atlanta. It's a rainy day, but not a stormy day with lightning, etc. Something went wrong, more wrong than what they want to admit. I'll be watching this. That airport is older but this has a bad vibe to it.

I was reading that it was due to an electrical maintenance crew cutting a line, cascading failure of systems occurred after I imagine. Who knows when their last test for system redundancy was, it's one of those things that's often overlooked.

It's just another "power" struggle.

originally posted by: gimcrackery
There is separate backup power systems, generators multiple lines in etc. for everything on an airport. It doesn't make sense.
a reply to: incoserv

Eh..No such thing as an infallible system.
Ask anyone that deal with technology , things fail at the worst time.
Human error comes in at the worst time.

a reply to: Hypntick

Hard to believe that a contractor cut a line on a SUNDAY, when it's raining. I just don't buy it. Something much worse is wrong and everything is at a standstill until they can figure it out....or stop it.....whatever it is.

originally posted by: FissionSurplus
a reply to: Hypntick

Hard to believe that a contractor cut a line on a SUNDAY, when it's raining. I just don't buy it. Something much worse is wrong and everything is at a standstill until they can figure it out....or stop it.....whatever it is.

And ... This is the kind of thinking i'm looking for on ATS.

Yes and yes. Does seem weird.

LOL, electric infrastructure is complete s# in the US making Third Word grids look good, and people are jumping straight to Doom Redux.

Give me a break, we're utter garbage at upgrading to modern stuff here. Generators don't mean squat if the electrical wiring on site is crap, too. A cascade failure can burn out way more than just a fuse.

originally posted by: Nyiah
LOL, electric infrastructure is complete s# in the US making Third Word grids look good, and people are jumping straight to Doom Redux.

Give me a break, we're utter garbage at upgrading to modern stuff here. Generators don't mean squat if the electrical wiring on site is crap, too. A cascade failure can burn out way more than just a fuse.

"Jumping to straight to Doom Redux?"

No, nobody is jumping to anything, just batting around thoughts and ideas. Nothing said here so far is outside of the realm of possibilities. If you don't like it, maybe you could give us a list of acceptable ideas for this thread so we don't stray too far away from what you find acceptable?

a reply to: FissionSurplus

I'm not saying that it's not something more than what news outlets are leading everyone to believe, however at the same time I have seen some really shoddy work done on power components when I used to frequent generating plants. Anyone that may have cut a line is most likely one toasted marshmallow at this point.

That being said, considering my particular field of work I could see this being a Triton attack. Although considering the complexity of the malware itself and the likelihood of state sponsorship of such an attack, it's most likely a chain of screw ups that caused this. Battery backups and generators not being tested regularly, shoddy IR plan, etc.

If it does end up being an attack, more work for me.

Edit to add: I have not done any work with any airline companies or airports, however if their infrastructure is anything like I've seen in BMS, power and utilities, oil and gas, healthcare, finance, or service provider environments, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it's just a really poorly designed and implemented infrastructure.

Pesky humans cut a line and BZZZZZZZZZZTTTTTT power gone


Never but never trust a human.



I REALLY REALLY hate that airport.

a reply to: incoserv

There may have been some kind of sabotage regarding their electrical and computer systems, which are kind of on their own. When we had that nasty snow storm over a week ago, most of us were out of power for days. Not the airport, they were doing great once they cleared the runways.

Hartsfield-Jackson airport is one of the busiest hubs in the United States. This will have a ripple effect everywhere. Naturally, it could be an accident....but this is the deep south, it is rare for a contractor to cut a line, much less a large line outside line on a cold rainy Sunday. Contractors, even the state GDot, do not work on Sunday unless it's a weather emergency. A line cut inside will not fry the whole system. Nobody's working outside, I guarantee it.

So if it's not due to the official story.....that leaves the field wide open as to what really happened. Stuxnet? A massive hack? Threats of bombs set all over? Not as far out a reason as you would suspect....that airport has an issue with homeless people wandering in for a nap, and defecating in the trash cans in full view of the public. It's a crowded place, and the security people there can't watch everybody...and don't.

Don't be so quick to buy the official story. This is the Lord's Day here in the southeast. Nobody is working outside cutting anything large enough to drop the whole system to its knees. We're being lied to.

originally posted by: incoserv

originally posted by: Nyiah
LOL, electric infrastructure is complete s# in the US making Third Word grids look good, and people are jumping straight to Doom Redux.

Give me a break, we're utter garbage at upgrading to modern stuff here. Generators don't mean squat if the electrical wiring on site is crap, too. A cascade failure can burn out way more than just a fuse.

"Jumping to straight to Doom Redux?"

No, nobody is jumping to anything, just batting around thoughts and ideas. Nothing said here so far is outside of the realm of possibilities. If you don't like it, maybe you could give us a list of acceptable ideas for this thread so we don't stray too far away from what you find acceptable?

Hey, a squirrel farts where I am and power goes out, to thousands. In an airport like Atlanta's with a Google-able history of power failure, it's not a shocker when it goes out. The mainland is essentially Puerto Rico's grid here, just waiting for a nasty storm system to make us Twinsies.

My question is, why are the backup generators not working because you know they must have them. Almost every building I have ever been in has a back up emergency generator that supplies enough power to run critical equipment and then some.

Something is amiss here.

As of an hour ago, people on Twitter are saying that passengers are not being allowed to leave the airport. Allegedly it is because the cameras aren't working.

Passengers are stuck on planes sitting on the tarmac. One passenger said that their pilot indicated another 2 - 4 hours before the situation is resolved.

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

In an airport on lockdown? Power is out? It's getting dark?

Sounds like a great plot for a movie.