Authorities in the United Kingdom (U.K) have ordered an inquiry into a power outage that shut down operations at London’s Heathrow Airport.
The outage, which was caused by an accidental fire at an electrical substation on Friday, shut down the world’s fifth-busiest airport for almost a day.
According to the DW News: Over 1,300 flights were canceled and around 200,000 passengers were stranded on Friday.
The airport was once again “fully operational,” according to officials on Saturday, but thousands of travelers were still stranded because of the significant disruption the outage created. It is anticipated that the delays will continue for a few days.
Heathrow-based British Airways expressed optimism for a “near-full schedule” on Sunday, but CEO Sean Doyle cautioned Friday that the “huge impact” of the disruption might last into next week.
The National Energy System Operator (NESO), which oversees the nation’s gas and power grid, has been instructed by the British government to look into the event.
Heathrow Airport has also opened its own inquiry into the accident, which will be led by Ruth Kelly, a former UK transport secretary and member of the airport’s board.
The last time European airports saw such a significant interruption, according to aviation experts, was in 2010, when an Icelandic volcano erupted, sending a plume of volcanic ash into the sky that forced some 100,000 aircraft to be grounded.
Source: DW News
