Power outage at N.C. airport leads to long lines, disrupts flights

Nov. 12 (UPI) -- A power outage at Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina lasted for several hours on Friday and caused long lines and flight disruptions.

The airport said contractors were called to the site to replace a large circuit breaker to fully restore power to Terminal 2 shortly before noon Friday. The first reports of the power outage in Terminal 2 came not long after midnight on Thursday.

"Contractors have replaced the 1,600-amp circuit breaker to fully restore power to all systems in Terminal 2," the airport tweeted.

"Flyers should still anticipate longer wait times, so be sure to check with your airline for flight status and arrive at the airport early."

Terminal 2 serves all airlines that fly into Raleigh-Durham except Southwest. The outage also affected other systems essential to operations, airport officials said.

Although the airport has several contractors on staff, it needed outside help to resolve the problem.

Airport spokeswoman Stephanie Hawco said the power outage was caused by water damage to a power distribution center.

Before coming back online, ticketing, baggage handling and the security checkpoint at Terminal 2 were all manually processed.