RR, this brief article will answer your questions as to the nature of the outage and the areas affected.
California flights resume after radar power restoredLOS ANGELES, July 18 (Reuters) - A power outage late on Tuesday at a regional FAA radar center halted most air traffic in Southern California, but back-up power had allowed some flights to resume, officials said.
"The cause (of the power outage) is under investigation," said Allen Kenitzer, regional spokesman of the Federal Aviation Administration. Back-up power has been restored at 6:51 p.m., he said.
The regional radar facility in Palmdale, about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of downtown Los Angeles, lost power, cutting radar for Southern California airports, including San Diego, at 5:38 p.m. local time (8:38 p.m. EDT, 0038 GMT Wednesday).
Kenitzer said he had heard a traffic accident in Palmdale might have been the cause, but could not confirm that report.
More than 75 departing flights at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the fifth busiest in the world, had been affected.
The outage grounded flights from nearly all Southern California airports, from as far north as San Luis Obispo to the Mexican Border, including San Diego, Palm Springs, Van Nuys, Orange County, Oxnard, Burbank and Ontario. A Las Vegas airport was also affected.
Once a jet takes off from a Southern California airport, the air traffic controllers "hand off" to the regional FAA radar in Palmdale. With this hand off not possible, the flights were grounded.
Many incoming flights were also reported to be turned back. One passenger from the San Francisco Bay Area said her Los Angeles-bound flight returned to the Oakland airport.
In New York, power outages due to equipment problems also disrupted air traffic at LaGuardia airport.
Thanks La Enchiladita for that update.
<< In New York, power outages due to equipment problems also disrupted air traffic at LaGuardia airport.>>
Now wait a minute. I thought the one in NY was due to weather problems.