LAX Power Outage: Latest on L.A. Flights Cancelled, Delayed

By Ewan Palmer On 6/6/19 at 3:22 AM EDT

Several flights have been cancelled, diverted, or severely delayed at Los Angeles International Airport due to a power outage. Passengers complained of lights and power going out at the airport with some even stranded in planes on the runway during the outage. The airport had to reboot its equipment during the four hour outage.

"Everything is back on and running," LAX spokeswoman Olga Gallardo told the Los Angeles Times. "When there is a power outage, the generators automatically kick in." Gallardo said a two second power "bump" caused the outage and the generators to start running, reports Associated Press.

According to NBC San Diego, terminals 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal had their power restored within an hour, but terminals 1, 7 and 8 were forced to make do with emergency power until just after 10 p.m. local time.

"All of the restaurants' lights were out," Katie Bell, who was arriving from Houston, told NBC. "Walked down the escalator to the baggage claim. That also wasn't working."

"My latest dose of bad luck: ALL of LAX airport has lost power and my luggage is being held hostage. No air, no power, and having to siphon off my laptop's battery to keep my phone alive," Twitter user @AnthemYour wrote. "But I'm here!"

The power outage also meant hundreds of people were stuck on planes as the electrically-powered bridges were not operational. Portable stairs were arranged to allow passengers to exit planes.

Cara Fox-Galassi was on a Southwest flight leaving for Sacramento when the power on the plane went out. "It was honestly very disconcerting when it happened since no one knew what was going on and phones weren't working," Fox-Galassi told the Times.

"After 1.5 hours sitting on the plane [the captain] was able to get us off," Fox-Galassi added. "He knew once power came back on we would be in a two-hour line waiting on the tarmac."

Power was restored across all terminals just after 10 p.m., but delays and cancellations are still expected. The airport is advising all passengers to check their flight status before departing for the airport.

At the time of publication, the airport's online departure board showed there are still several upcoming delayed flights.

In the latest update, the airport tweeted: "Power to all traffic signals inside the Central Terminal Area has been restored. Traffic continues to flow and @LAAirportPD continues to be on scene to assist."