A gleaming new data center sits less than half a mile from the electric substation where a fire plunged Heathrow Airport into darkness last week. The data center’s own power was also cut that day. But no one who relied on it would have noticed, thanks to a bank of batteries and backup generators designed … Read more
The British government has ordered an urgent investigation into how a fire at an electricity substation left Heathrow Airport in London in darkness on Friday, crippling one of the world’s busiest airports. “We are determined to properly understand what happened and what lessons need to be learned,” Britain’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said in a … Read more
Throngs of passengers anxious to get on their way surged into Heathrow Airport in London on Saturday, a day after a power blackout closed the airport and forced thousands to delay their trips. As information boards flickered back to life, an army of extra airport staff members, dressed in purple, sprang into action to help … Read more
Heathrow Airport in London, one of the world’s busiest air hubs, was set to resume a full day of service on Saturday. But after a fire at an electrical substation halted operations for most of Friday, global travel remained disrupted. The police were still investigating what had caused the fire at the substation in western … Read more
Phillip Kizun found himself having to improvise on Friday as he tried to get from London to Dublin, typically a routine trip. After finding out that his flight from Heathrow Airport had been canceled, Mr. Kizun, 58, took a train to Wales and then a ferry from the coastal town of Holyhead to the Irish … Read more
Heathrow Airport in London was plunged into chaos after a fire at an electrical substation shut down operations at one of Europe’s busiest air hubs, forcing the airport to cancel or divert more than 1,000 flights on Friday and removing a global linchpin of air travel. Heathrow’s chief executive, Thomas Woldbye, described the disruption as … Read more
Investigators combed through the burned-out remains of a power substation near London’s Heathrow Airport on Friday, seeking the cause of a spectacular blaze that shuttered Europe’s busiest travel hub for much of a day and raised broader questions about Britain’s energy infrastructure. Officials and energy experts said a fault in a transformer with 275,000 volts … Read more
Whatever caused the fire near Heathrow Airport, the scale of the chaos raised uncomfortable questions for Britain’s government about issues such as the security measures protecting key transport hubs and the resilience of the country’s often aging infrastructure. With counterterrorism police leading the investigation, the possibility of sabotage was being taken seriously, at least as … Read more
Airlines, airports and air traffic controllers prepare for chaos. But that doesn’t make responding to it any less complicated. The global aviation system is deeply interconnected and responding to a disruption — especially one as severe as a power outage at a global airport hub — is a delicate balancing act. For airlines, moving even … Read more
At least 1,300 flights in and out of London’s Heathrow Airport were disrupted on Friday as the airport, Europe’s busiest, was shut down after a major nearby fire caused a power outage. More flights are expected to be canceled or delayed in the coming days as airlines navigate the ripple effects of the airport’s closure, … Read more