A power outage at Austin's main airport plunged passengers into darkness for over an hour and led to delayed flights
Courtesy of Lance Romigh
- Austin Airport is delaying flights following a power outage Wednesday morning.
- The cut left passengers sat in the dark for over an hour and closed TSA security lines for even longer.
- Photos and videos shared on social media show the airport largely in darkness.
Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas has delayed flights following a power shortage that left passengers sat in the dark for over an hour on Wednesday morning and closed TSA security lines for even longer.
The airport first posted about the power outage at 4:53 a.m. local time, though local CNBC affiliate KXAN reported that viewers started sending in photos of the power cut from 4:30 a.m..
Courtesy of Austin Texas Adventure on Twitter
Passengers told Insider that the backup generator has since come on, restoring the main lighting, but that the internet, check-in desks, and security were still down as of around 6:30 a.m.
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"Airport roadways are temporarily closed while flights are halted due to the power outage," the airport said at 6:17 a.m. local time. "If you have a flight this morning, the time will change so please check your flight status."
The airport did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment on when it expects power to be fully restored, when normal flight patterns will resume, and how many flights have been affected so far.
The airport's website lists most of the flights as being on time.
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Photos and videos posted on Twitter appear to show stores largely shut and passengers using cellphone torches to navigate their way round the dark terminal.
"I think now people are anxious that they'll miss their flights because we don't know how long they'll hold them, and they still don't know how long until primary power comes on," one person at the airport told Insider.
But passengers said that, despite the confusion, the atmosphere in the terminal was largely calm. Bagel company Einstein Bros has handed out bagels to stranded passengers.
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