Las Americas Airport suffers blackout

posted on: Mar 22 2010 12:33 by Royston. Viewed 1075 times.


Yet another embarrassing power cut for the government yesterday. This time it was not supply rationing that caused the problem, but the failure of a high voltage line serving the main Las Americas International Airport at Santo Domingo.

A blackout of more than three hours affected the operations of the airport, delaying the departure and arrival of flights and stranding passengers.

The communications director for Aeropuerto Siglo XXI (Aerodom), the agency that administers the nation's airports, said last night that, "at first service was restored by 60% in the North Terminal, but South Terminal  remains affected by the power outage since noon yesterday.�

Yolanda Ma��n explained that the electrical system failure was caused by a problem with a high voltage cable. She added that given the impossibility of solving the problem yesterday on the south side, they have implemented a plan for the arrival and departure of flights solely at the north terminal.

However, she explained that, since all operations are now limited to a single terminal  there are delays in departure and arrival of flights.

�The situation means that the terminal is operating at full capacity,� said  Ma��n adding that two emergency generators were being installed to make up the shortfall in supply to the south terminal until repairs are completed.

The executive vice president of the Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies (CDEEE) reported that repair crews from Empresa Distribuidora del Este (EdeEste) were working to correct a fault affecting power supplies to AILA since the emergency system could not cope.

The communications officer of the CDEEE, Victor Bautista explained that the terminal is not a client of AES Dominicana, but for reasons of security, CDEEE arranged for EdeEste technicians to restore power.

This morning, operations were returning to normal. Some areas were still without power in the south terminal, but there were no reports of delays to the morning schedule

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