A power outage caused long delays and diverted flights Monday morning at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
The outage, which began around 7:30 a.m., affected all electricity at the airport, including elevators and escalators in the main terminal, officials said.
Some flights that had already landed needed to use stair cars to deplane passengers while other flights were diverted to nearby airports. Roughly 170 flights were delayed and more than 50 were cancelled, according to FlightAware.
A full ground stop for arrivals occurred between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The outage was caused by a downed power line near the airport, Stephanie Weaver, a spokesperson for Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, said.
Power was fully restored around 11:15 a.m.
BWI said it “may take some time” for the airlines to resume normal operations.
The outage comes on the heels of a number of fatal disasters and mishaps at American airports that have raised concerns about the safety of air travel.
