July 12, 2004
Tribune staff reports
An explosion in an electrical transformer knocked out power and caused confusion for travelers this afternoon at O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 , CLTV reported.
At least two workers were taken to local hospitals, CLTV said. The severity of their injuries was not immediately available.
The explosion occurred shortly after noon, cutting off power to the ticket counter, mezzanine and baggage claim area of Terminal 2, which handles the planes of Air Canada, Air Jamaica, America West, Northwest, Continental, U.S. Airways and United Express as well as some United flights. Most United traffic goes into Terminal 1.
"There was something that happened with a transformer. We're still looking into details of that. Two people were injured," said Annette Martinez, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.
The outage also affected part of Terminal 3, Commonwealth Edison spokeswoman Meg Amato told CLTV. The extent of the outage there was not known, but did not appear to be as severe as in Terminal 2.
The incident appeared to have been caused by a contractor working for O'Hare.
"We just know contractors were digging and hit some wires underground," Amato said. "We do not know exactly what it is, but our crews are on site, and we're also bringing in an emergency restoration team to help O'Hare bringing up whatever equipment they can as soon as possible,"
ComEd also was bringing in two generators to help the restoration effort.
"As soon as (O'Hare officials) give us the green light Ö we can begin immediately to restore customers and switch them back on," Amato said.
Among other things, the blackout affected Terminal 2's security checkpoints. Baggage conveyor belts also were halted, and a contingency plan to move baggage by other means was put in place, CLTV reported.
Witnesses told CLTV the monitors for flight arrivals and departures were dark, the air was growing stuffy and airport personnel were trying to move passengers through the dark as best they could.
"We are redirecting passengers to other terminals or other areas where they can get security checks and also doing manual screening of passengers," with security personnel using hand-held wands, Martinez said.
"We are asking that passengers call their airlines just to double-check to make sure their flights are going out on time."
"It's almost like a weather delay. People are standing around. Nobody seems to be very panicky," said Rev. Michael Zaniolo, chaplain at O'Hare, whose chapel on the mezzanine level of terminal did not lose electricity.
Zaniolo said passenger lines were backed up "a little bit. It seems that some computers aren't working. There are planes taking off."
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune
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