POWER OUTAGE DELAYS FLIGHTS MAJOR CONTROL CENTER DOWN 90 MINUTES.Byline: Staff and Wire Services PALMDALE -- A power outage Noun 1. power outage - equipment failure resulting when the supply of power fails; "the ice storm caused a power outage" power failure equipment failure, breakdown - a cessation of normal operation; "there was a power breakdown" at a key air traffic control center disrupted flights in and out of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, airports for more than an hour Tuesday, a Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control spokesman said. Power was reported out shortly after 5:30 p.m. at the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Air Route Traffic Control Center The principal facility exercising en route control of aircraft operating under instrument flight rules within its area of jurisdiction. Approximately 26 such centers cover the United States and its possessions. Each has a communication capability to adjacent centers. in Palmdale and was restored about 90 minutes later, said Allen Kenitzer, a regional spokesman for the FAA. ``The generator kicked in, and backup power was re-established,'' Kenitzer said. The FAA said the cause of the problem was not known. But Garth Koleszar, a facility representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is a labor union in the United States. It is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, and is the exclusive bargaining representative for air traffic controllers employed by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). for the Palmdale center, said he heard in a briefing that ``a truck accident or auto accident took out power to the facility.'' Koleszar said there was also a malfunction in the back-up generating system, which should have kicked in immediately. At Bob Hope Airport Bob Hope Airport (IATA: BUR, ICAO: KBUR, FAA LID: BUR) is a regional and national airport located in Burbank, California, United States. It was formerly known as United Airport (1930-1934); Union Air Terminal (1934-1940); in Burbank, travelers remained calm after hearing news of delays. Locals left the airport altogether, while travelers from out of town whipped out cell phones to cancel plans. Jane Davis held her head in her hand when she heard of her flight delay. As a result, she would miss all her connecting flights to Pennsylvania and would have to come back to the airport on Thursday, in hope of making it to a 50th reunion party in time. ``This is the first flight I was going to take in years,'' said Davis, a La Crescenta resident. ``I started driving to Pennsylvania, but I got in an accident. My friend Margaret convinced me to fly. I guess I'm not driving and I'm not flying.'' The high desert air traffic facility handles high-altitude aircraft in Southern California and parts of Arizona, Nevada and Utah. Such an outage can cause backups in air traffic nationwide, Kenitzer said. Smaller facilities were helping the center communicate with a large volume of planes that were in the air and heading to the region, Kenitzer said. ``Safety is never compromised, but obviously it's caused an inconvenience,'' he said. Some planes on lower-altitude routes were able to take off and land, said Harold Johnson, a spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport “LAX” redirects here. For other uses, see LAX (disambiguation). “KLAX” redirects here. For other uses, see KLAX (disambiguation). Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX . CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Lindon Pecorelli waits anxiously in the America West ticket line at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank on Tuesday night. Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News |
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