Fire and Power Outage at Atlanta Airport Sparks Fresh Terror Fears Ahead of Holiday Travel

Though the lights have come back on and normalcy has been restored at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, many fear the crippling power outage shows the world’s busiest airport has weak spots that could potentially be targeted by terrorists.

“Atlanta Airport Blackout Sends Message to Terrorists: America Is Unprepared,” read a headline on The Daily Beast.

All it took to bring the travel hub to a complete standstill was a fire that started in a Georgia Power underground electrical facility.

It damaged two substations that serve the airport, including its “redundant system,” which should have provided backup power.

Many passengers took to social media to document the conditions inside the darkened Atlanta terminals and to vent their frustration.

“There is no excuse for lack of workable redundant power source,” former U.S. transportation secretary Anthony Foxx wrote on Twitter. “NONE!”

Comedian Brian Moote shared video of TSA agents carrying wheelchairs up escalators, captioning it “respect.”

An estimated 30,000 people were affected by the power outage.

Delta tweeted that it expected flight schedules to “return to normal by Monday afternoon.”

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