London’s Heathrow airport says it has returned to full operations 24 hours after its terminals were forced to close following a major power cut caused by a fire at a nearby electrical substation. The airport CEO has apologised for the knock-on travel effects around the globe.
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00:00The blaze that brought Europe's busiest airport to a standstill.
00:06Underneath the flames, an electrical substation.
00:09The fire involved a transformer comprising 25,000 litres of cooling oil fully alight.
00:16This created a major hazard due to the still high voltage equipment.
00:21A few hundred metres away, Heathrow's terminals were plunged into darkness
00:26and the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people thrown into chaos.
00:31Tori Dunzello was travelling from the US to London for her father's funeral,
00:35but the plane turned back.
00:37We're already feeling pretty upset as it is,
00:40and then on top of it, this has been quite traumatic.
00:46Heathrow bosses announced the airport would close for a full day,
00:50affecting more than 1,300 flights.
00:53We're basically stranded. We were going on our honeymoon and we just can't go.
00:59We may have lost the whole holiday, but we have travel insurance.
01:03The day's Qantas flights from London were cancelled
01:05and the airline's incoming planes from Singapore and Perth were diverted to Paris,
01:10with travellers finishing their journeys by bus.
01:13Other carriers sent their passengers to airports around Europe too.
01:17There was no guidance as to where to go to get back to a new hotel and flights.
01:22Power cuts also affected 60,000 homes surrounding Heathrow.
01:26The UK's electricity provider, the National Grid,
01:29has described this event as unprecedented.
01:32But questions are being asked about why the power supply
01:35to Europe's biggest airport relied on just one substation
01:39and why any backup systems didn't kick in.
01:43Counter-terror police are involved in the investigation,
01:47but say that's just a precaution.
01:49For travellers, the biggest concern is getting back in the air.
01:53With planes, pilots, passengers strewn right across Europe
01:57and stuck in various places in North America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia,
02:03it is going to be a nightmare trying to get the schedules back on.
02:08A nightmare that could take days and cost millions.