Twin Cities airport briefly loses power; about 30 flights affected Wednesday, September 13, 2000

A brief power failure this afternoon at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport delayed about 30 flights either attempting to leave or arrive, a Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman said.

The terminal lost power about 12:45 p.m., and it was restored about 35 minutes later, said Patrick Hogan, a MAC spokesman. The air-traffic control tower maintained power the entire time, he said.

Firefighters removed people who were in elevators at the time of the power failure, he said. The motorized walkways were also brought to a halt.

There was no immediate report of injuries, Hogan said.

All operations at the airport are now back to normal. A cause of the power failure has yet to be determined, Hogan said.

The power loss meant some gateways could not be moved, preventing some inbound planes from reaching the terminal delaying some outbound flights from pulling away, Hogan said.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 13, 2000