Chaotic scenes widely reported. Does the airport not have standby generation for such an event ?Able to supply at least 25% of normal lighting, and 100% of other services, excluding non essential retail and catering. And UPS for the most critical loads.
Chaotic scenes widely reported. Does the airport not have standby generation for such an event ?Able to supply at least 25% of normal lighting, and 100% of other services, excluding non essential retail and catering. And UPS for the most critical loads.
This is far more complex than it would at first appear. And yes, all of the things you stated ... and more ... are generally covered.
There are requirements for standby and backup power for certain functions in airports. Supplies to airfield functions are typically separate to those for the Terminals, and have their own standby generators, which are usually started even in low visibility conditions.
Supplies to Terminals and other facilities are taken on their own merits, and yes there are often "dual fed dual supplies" and "UPS/CPS" systems ... and things even in terminal will run for many hours ... but if an incoming supply failure to a terminal is predicted to persist for a pre-determined duration, if memory serves, 4 hours, the approach typically is to cease operations.
In today's incident at Manchester, however, the BBC reports that "a fault with a cable had caused a power surge that took down security systems and baggage screening" ... which means a major disruption to security systems. This would affect the "go/no-go" decision on flights for safety and security reasons.
This would affect the "go/no-go" decision on flights for safety and security reasons.
Yes, but that is merely inconvenient. Even if ATC could not land aircraft, they would at least have to be able to communicate with them in the event of diversion.
Lighting in terminals would be pretty important; catering not!
well it will be interesting to know more in due course as to exactly what has happened. Cables breaking and causing over-voltges are often as simple as a lost neutral, but given the scale it sounds more like something nasty has happened at HV.
In any case I suspect that the plan for a power cut is similar to that for a fire or anything else with unclear disruption potential - beyond a critical size of event that can be handled locally, the 'plan B' as it were to shut things down in a safe way.
Awkward if its your flight cancelled of course, but should not be a total surprise this sort of event happens from time to time - unlike the fire drill this one has probably never been rehearsed.
Mike
Yes, but that is merely inconvenient. Even if ATC could not land aircraft, they would at least have to be able to communicate with them in the event of diversion.
Lighting in terminals would be pretty important; catering not!
There are CAA requirements to meet for availability of power at airport terminals (and separate requirements for flight operations and airfield operations).
I understand what you are saying about assuming "merely convenience" with respect to the terminals but that's not the case, the "domestic power" in the terminal does far more than you think. Terminals are host to Customs, Security, etc, and the risk of not being able to unload and process incoming flights safety is a major concern.
The ATC and airfield ops are wholly separate (and are usually backed up using generators run of aviation fuel mains, for the key supplies).
Further, failure of baggage handing, screening, and reconciliation are far more than just "inconvenience".
Baggage handling is central to an airport's operation. If the BHS fails, yes you can send flights off - but passengers will have no luggage and it increases security risks.
If the screening system fails, you can't load luggage either - BHS backs up, and there's no way of getting luggage to people if this persists for more than an hour or so.
If reconciliation fails, again you can't load luggage. This is the system that makes sure that, if "checked baggage" is associated with a passenger, the "checked baggage" has to be unloaded if the passenger doesn't board. Baggage not associated with a passenger on the same flight has to go through more stringent security checks ... and if the baggage screening system has failed, this is just not possible.
Diverting aircraft isn't that easy either ... just like the rail system, things "back up" elsewhere if you have to divert flights, crew in the wrong place, etc.
Yes, but that is merely inconvenient. Even if ATC could not land aircraft, they would at least have to be able to communicate with them in the event of diversion.
Lighting in terminals would be pretty important; catering not!
There are CAA requirements to meet for availability of power at airport terminals (and separate requirements for flight operations and airfield operations).
I understand what you are saying about assuming "merely convenience" with respect to the terminals but that's not the case, the "domestic power" in the terminal does far more than you think. Terminals are host to Customs, Security, etc, and the risk of not being able to unload and process incoming flights safety is a major concern.
The ATC and airfield ops are wholly separate (and are usually backed up using generators run of aviation fuel mains, for the key supplies).
Further, failure of baggage handing, screening, and reconciliation are far more than just "inconvenience".
Baggage handling is central to an airport's operation. If the BHS fails, yes you can send flights off - but passengers will have no luggage and it increases security risks.
If the screening system fails, you can't load luggage either - BHS backs up, and there's no way of getting luggage to people if this persists for more than an hour or so.
If reconciliation fails, again you can't load luggage. This is the system that makes sure that, if "checked baggage" is associated with a passenger, the "checked baggage" has to be unloaded if the passenger doesn't board. Baggage not associated with a passenger on the same flight has to go through more stringent security checks ... and if the baggage screening system has failed, this is just not possible.
Diverting aircraft isn't that easy either ... just like the rail system, things "back up" elsewhere if you have to divert flights, crew in the wrong place, etc.
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