Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport Currently Experiencing Power Outage (Sandy Springs: hotels, live in)

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by alco89

My goodness, some of yall are so dramatic.

"Dramatic"...is that the word for it these days?

[Need4Camaro]

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

I don't follow. How would any of those examples prevent what happened at HJIA?

I'm speaking of something different as of how overall Atlanta has less control over its surrounding municipalities and why this place seems so disorganized as a whole not just the airport.

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

So you don't think American infrastructure problems in general are caused by "blatant ignorance"? We've willfully ignored our infrastructure in the U.S. for several decades. The issue at HJIA may be more localized but the root cause is the exact same as other infrastructure failings all across the U.S. Atlanta isn't some huge exception to the rule in this particular case.

Fair enough, I can't disagree that this country is negligent upon upkeep on certain key infrastructure and the problem that lies at hand is indeed humanity.. but its still.. ..I don't know.. I just dont like the idea that they would be willing to let an airport of that magnitude survive on just one source of power. I could see it if like.. infrastructure was crumbling apart and they simply didn't have the money to maintain but what I can't see is why plan an airport of this size and even plan on adding runways but not be willing to address potential power threats... or atleast have a backup source, it would have costed a fraction of what it costed them to install that 5th runway.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I'm speaking of something different as of how overall Atlanta has less control over its surrounding municipalities and why this place seems so disorganized as a whole not just the airport.

The only example that would be feasible for metro ATL is with respect to MARTA which should at least cover Cobb and Gwinnett counties in addition to Fulton, Dekalb, and Clayton. The state is also a hindrance there but they seem to be trying to get their act together.

Fair enough, I can't disagree that this country is negligent upon upkeep on certain key infrastructure and the problem that lies at hand is indeed humanity.. but its still.. ..I don't know.. I just dont like the idea that they would be willing to let an airport of that magnitude survive on just one source of power. I could see it if like.. infrastructure was crumbling apart and they simply didn't have the money to maintain but what I can't see is why plan an airport of this size and even plan on adding runways but not be willing to address potential power threats... or atleast have a backup source, it would have costed a fraction of what it costed them to install that 5th runway.

I don't want to take away from the seriousness of the issue; it was bad and it wasn't a good look. Thankfully there were no fatalities or other serious life-threatening emergencies associated with the blackout and it's pretty sad that that's how the low the bar is in this country today. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to ensure this doesn't happen again.

[Atlwarrior]

No one will have the correct answer since your are dealing with Federal and local authority, but common sense does automatically give the agency with greater authority more responsibility. The Feds had the jurisdictional authority to correct this problem, but let’s be clear our national air system runs off old models. Even if the outage lasted 11 hours, a more modern air system would have allowed a quicker recovery. Even when ATL was building the 5th runway, no one was smart enough to forecast an event that could shut down the airport. I’m looking forward to the full investigation and our state senators should demand answers on the Federal level too.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

It is extraordinarily critical (and extremely dangerous) should an airport lose power countless mishaps could happen from control towers losing operational status to literal looting, riots inside the terminals and security being completely disabled...

As for who handles it, my guess is that Georgia Power should have maintenance schedules installed. Management is also probably partially accountable for this as well. For expansions of the airport generally that is accounted for when the engineers design the expansion. They tell the management team what will be required. From there the management team will coordinate with GP to quote any necessary enhancements or upgrades necessary and they can decide if they want them or not.. If they implement them then GP carries responsibility, if not GP will not inherit responsibility for any issues that may further incur and it falls solely on the management.

I used to work with Paradies btw, those are the little stores that are littered throughout the airport and we have had countless engineers install electrical equipment, networking equipment, conduit, ect... usually it depends upon the needs of the airport and the negotiation between the management team upon what they will accept and pay for...or try to skate by with...and you would be surprised about how often (not just in Atlanta but everywhere) people try to skate by with fairly critical matters.

11 hours without power at Hartsfield is a disastrous failure.

People were trapped on planes for over 7 hours, and no doubt massive disruption of travel plans occurred.

Can you imagine what this would have been like if it was summer and temperatures were in the 90s??



"Among those stuck on a flight was former U.S. transportation secretary Anthony Foxx. “There is no excuse for lack of workable redundant power source," he tweeted. “NONE!”

I have to agree.

[Soccernerd]

A few years ago I was in LAX waiting for a flight to STL. Denver had a massive snowstorm, and it just created a massive ripple effect. I can’t imagine what the blackout did to national air travel.

Also, I couldn’t believe how ugly and self-centered people got when their flights got delayed or cancelled. I can’t imagine being at Hartsfield when it happened.

[AnsleyPark]

Folks - ya know, sometimes the best engineered systems are going to fail because of unforeseen problems. Space shuttles have exploded and burned on reentry. Interstate bridges have collapsed because of fires. The Hindenburg went boom. Aircraft crash. Bridges collapse. Trains derail. Data centers are hacked. Etc.

Sometimes no matter how careful we are, we are still fallible folks and our engineering projects are likewise.

[MattCW]

It's too bad there isn't another way of getting around the country. Maybe I'll invent a new system for rapidly moving people across the land. I know it's a wild idea, but I'll constrain the vehicles to a guideway with these two guides....I think I'll call them rails, kind of like stair rails ya know? On top, I'll use wheels underneath a passenger compartment and just have one driver...hrm, could be a complicated job...maybe that'll have to be an engineer.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Folks - ya know, sometimes the best engineered systems are going to fail because of unforeseen problems. Space shuttles have exploded and burned on reentry. Interstate bridges have collapsed because of fires. The Hindenburg went boom. Aircraft crash. Bridges collapse. Trains derail. Data centers are hacked. Etc.

Sometimes no matter how careful we are, we are still fallible folks and our engineering projects are likewise.

No question about it, Ansley. And I'm certainly not interested in trying to blame anyone.

However, this should be the cue for a through top to bottom reassessment of the airport's ability to respond to an event like this. Maybe nobody thought of locating the redundant power switch further away from the front line equipment and that's understandable. But they should think about it now!

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by arjay57

No question about it, Ansley. And I'm certainly not interested in trying to blame anyone.

However, this should be the cue for a through top to bottom reassessment of the airport's ability to respond to an event like this. Maybe nobody thought of locating the redundant power switch further away from the front line equipment and that's understandable. But they should think about it now!

Indeed they should, arjay! Must have been heck of a fire.