New York travelers were warned of potential travel chaos at JFK Airport on Friday as one of its terminals remained closed for a second day after a power outage sparked a fire.
“JFK Terminal 1 will remain closed on [Friday] due to electrical issues as the Port Authority continues working with the terminal’s operator to restore flight operations as quickly as possible,” the major travel hub tweeted just after 11 p.m. Thursday.
“Travelers should check with their carriers for flight status before coming to the airport.”
JFK Airport Terminal 1 was is unusually deserted after an overnight fire. Lev Radin/Pacific Press/Shutters
The power outage was caused by an electrical panel failure that caused a fire overnight Thursday, the airline explained in one message, stating it was “immediately extinguished.”
Throughout Thursday, airport staff scrambled to re-route as many flights as possible through the other four terminals, none of which were otherwise affected.
On Friday, some 18 flights out of JFK were canceled, with another 15 delayed, just 2% of the total flights scheduled, according to Flight Aware.
Some 13 arriving flights were canceled, with around 30 delayed coming in, the flight tracking site noted early Friday.
On Thursday, that included a New Zealand flight that was forced to turn around eight hours into its journey to the Big Apple — leaving passengers stuck aboard the aircraft for 16 hours as it was sent back to Auckland.
Some flights scheduled to arrive at JFK were diverted to other airports on the East Coast, the airport’s website showed.
On Friday, some 18 flights out of JFK were canceled and 15 were delayed, according to Flight Aware. VIEWpress via Getty Images
Asked for an update Friday, the Port Authority merely repeated the same message in its latest Tweet.
JFK travel chaos expected, terminal closed over power outage
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