JFK Terminal 1 Power Outage Continues For Second Day
JFK Airport suffered a power outage on Thursday that caused major headaches for departures and arrivals at Terminal 1. The terminal serves more than a dozen international airlines and accounts for 8.5% of the airport’s total gates.
An electrical panel failure caused a “small isolated fire overnight that was immediately extinguished.” But the incident led to a power outage that disrupted more than 100 flights at New York area’s busiest airport.
Some inbound international flights were diverted to other airports along the East Coast such as Boston and Newark. One trans-Pacific flight from Auckland, New Zealand, to New York was forced to make a U-turn near Hawaii, resulting in a 16-hour flight to nowhere.
A notice posted in a Federal Aviation Administration safety database said the outage was expected to last for about 24 hours. But the problems continue on Friday with more than 30 flights canceled and they could extend for a few more days.
“JFK Terminal 1 will remain closed on 2/17 due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues working with the terminal’s operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible,” the airport said in a statement. “Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport.”
Four hours ago, the airport sent another tweet to inform travelers that it was conducting a “Live Fire Training Exercise, producing fire/smoke in controlled fashion away from public areas.”
JFK’s Terminal 1 opened in the late 1990s and is scheduled to be replaced by a new, $9.5 billion terminal which is already under construction.
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