CNN
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A power outage has disrupted flights at John F. Kennedy International Airport terminals, the airport said Thursday.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement that Terminal 1’s outage was caused by an electrical panel failure that “started a small, isolated fire overnight that was quickly extinguished.”
“The power outage is currently impacting the terminal’s ability to accept inbound and outbound flights,” the statement said.
Other terminals are being used to accommodate affected flights and travelers should check with airlines about flight status, the port authority said.
An Air New Zealand flight scheduled to land at JFK at 5:40 p.m. Thursday was diverted to its original airport, according to flight tracking site FlightAware.
Some of the incoming international flights were diverted to other east coast airports, including Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey, Boston’s Logan International Airport and Washington Dulles International Airport. JFK’s website showed.
The Port Authority is trying to restore power to Terminal 1 by avoiding circuits affected by the nighttime fire, according to Port Authority officials with knowledge of the outage.
If this method of restoring power to the terminal is not successful, they are ready to bring Terminal 1 back online using generator power, the port authority source added.
Aircraft ramps around Terminal 1 are closed and are expected to reopen Friday morning, according to a notice posted in the Federal Aviation Administration’s safety database.
The FAA has referred questions about the incident to airport operators. The Transportation Security Administration said, “TSA awaits resolution of the power issue.”
Air New Zealand passengers found themselves on a nearly 16-hour flight back to Auckland from Auckland after ANZ2 turned back due to disruption at JFK.
“A diversion to another U.S. port would mean that the aircraft would remain on the ground for several days, impacting many other scheduled services and customers,” the airline said in a statement to CNN. Stated.
Airline staff are on standby to rebook passengers when they return to Auckland.
“We apologize for the inconvenience. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.”
