LAX blackout stops TSA screenings; error “investigation”

UPDATED with details: A nearly 45-minute power outage hit Los Angeles International Airport around 2:30 p.m. today, halting passenger screening and potentially delaying flights. The Department of Water and Energy said crews have restored service and “the outage is being investigated”.

“Power restored or coming online at most locations,” read a tweet at 3:08 p.m. from LAX’s official account. “TSA is expected to resume screening in terminals within 10 to 15 minutes. The transport will take a little longer to get back up and running.”

The airport previously tweeted: “Most of our terminals are affected by the power outage and crews are investigating the issue. Some departing flights may be affected as passenger boarding bridges are without power. Please allow additional time and check your flight status once we know more.”

The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement, “The FAA’s air traffic control tower is electrically powered and capable of providing regular services.” So far, the federal Department of Homeland Security has referred all inquiries to local authorities.

As of 2:35 p.m. PT, the airport was “operating normally, but some terminals, traffic lights and other systems may not have power,” LADWP said.

The outage also extended beyond LAX to areas such as nearby Loyola Marymount University, which reported that power was restored to the campus just before 3 p.m. There were also reports of power outages for businesses and hotels along Century Boulevard east of the airport and other areas of Westchester – including traffic lights on Manchester Boulevard and parts of Sepulveda Boulevard.

The story caught the attention of the national news media, as CNN used it to announce the 3:00 p.m. PT. broadcast news broadcast. The outage at one of the world’s busiest airports follows repeated deliberate attacks on power plants across the country in recent months, which are still being investigated by the FBI and local law enforcement agencies. In 2022, there were more than 100 such attacks on the web, most recently in Moore County, NC in December. Authorities found the high-profile attack and failure of two power plants, which left thousands of hours in the dark, was the premeditated result of gunfire.

Things got shaky for a while as stars and executives from around the country and world descended on Los Angeles for Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

Dominic Patten and Ted Johnson contributed to this report.