EMP denial

[Gerard Zwaan]

Amazon Web Services recovered Monday morning from a widespread outage that disrupted services for major retailers, airlines, social media apps, financial platforms, and more. AWS infrastructure supports millions of websites and platforms.Air France 447 in 2009, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, and the recent Germanwings A320 incidents have drawn attention due to their significant impact on the airline industry, often attributing blame to pilot suicide, storms, or poor judgment. Similarly, crashes involving electric trains like the Disney Monorail, DC Metro in 2009, and Amtrak 188 are investigated with discussions of safety devices, track maintenance, or mechanical failure taking center stage. 

The public only begins to suspect something larger at play when widespread issues arise. Disruptions in cell phone service are often blamed on blocked tower access or bad weather, while the Blackberry outage in 2008 was attributed to a software glitch. However, engineers maintaining equipment and the grid are not easily deceived. During the Washington DC blackout, an electrical issue initially described as a "surge" hinted at something unusual. 

A key distinction exists between a failed electrical system, a simple outage, and an electromagnetic pulse. A pulse causes a surge—a sudden increase in magnetons and electrons—that disrupts equipment reliant on steady particle flow, leading to a runaway state. Surge protection can guard against lightning strikes, shutting down equipment to prevent damage. Yet, absent a lightning strike, such surges may point to the charged tail of Planet X, also known as Nibiru. 

What lies ahead for the public? As cell phone service and satellite cable TV continue to degrade, and as planes experience increasing electronics failures or cockpit smoke incidents, the challenges posed by such phenomena may become harder to ignore.

Source: ZetaTalk Chat Q&A for May 23, 2015

[Yvonne Lawson]

Kenya thrown into darkness following a power blackout

Most parts of Kenya were in darkness following a widespread blackout on Tuesday night.

Many counties or some sections of the counties experienced the blackout. They include, many parts of Bomet, Embu, Kiambu, Kisii, Kisumu, Laikipia, Nairobi, Narok, Nyandarua, Nyeri, Mombasa, Meru, Taita Taveta, Tharaka-Nithi and Uasin Gishu counties.

However, some areas, such as Kawangware and Karura in Nairobi County, were not affected.

In a statement, Kenya Power said a power system disturbance caused the outage, but “engineers are battling to identify the fault and restore power supply as quickly as possible.”

Kenya Power regional manager David Mugambi said the problem was massive and they were doing everything possible to fix it.

Read more: http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Blackout-throws-Kenya-into-darkness/10...

[Scott]

Transformer explosion blamed in Cleveland power outage that affected 40,000 (Dec 27, 2017)

The transformer explosion happened around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the West 41st Street substation, which is a main power hub in the city and services most of Cleveland's West Side, according to Cleveland Public Power Commissioner Ivan Henderson.

The equipment erupted in flames and spewed oil. Officials don't yet know what caused the transformer to explode. It might have been the result of an equipment failure, or an energy spike from the power grid itself could've caused the damage, Henderson said.

About 40,000 Cleveland residents were without power during extremely cold temperatures. Repair crews were at the scene within minutes and power was restored to most of the West Side within about three hours.

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/12/transformer_explos...

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/12/cleveland_public_p...

https://twitter.com/clepublicpower/status/945811776893046784

[Scott]

Thousands of Leicester homes without power on freezing evening after substation fire (Dec 16, 2017)

Firefighters tackled a blaze that broke out in an electricity sub-station in Leicester [United Kingdom] shortly before 8pm on Friday. 

People living in neighbouring properties spoke of hearing a series of loud explosions at the time of the start of the fire.

Power was restored for 3/4 of the 4,000 affected customers within 23 minutes and by 2am for the remaining customers.

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/thousands-lei...

http://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/fire-crews-fi...

Leicester, United Kingdom

[Scott]

Explosion, Fire Knocks Out Power in Salina, Kansas (Dec 8, 2017)

An explosion and fire at a substation in Salina at about 7:30 a.m. Friday morning caused more than 6,000 energy customers to be without power for nearly an hour.

Westar Regional Director Tom Sydow said the cause of the fire had not been determined.

http://www.salina.com/news/20171208/fire-in-substation-leaves-6000-...

https://www.ksal.com/explosion-fire-knocks-out-power/

Salina, Kansas

[M. Difato]

Amtrak Update: Investigators say Amtrak train was going 80 mph in 30 mph zone

 http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/breakingnews/story/2017/dec/18/m...

 UPDATE: Federal investigators say the Amtrak train that derailed south of Seattle was traveling at 80 mph in a 30 mph zone.

Bella Dinh-Zarr, an NTSB board member, said at a Monday night news conference that information from the event data recorder in the rear locomotive provided information about the train's speed. Authorities say at least three people were killed and dozens injured when the train derailed early Monday morning, spilling train cars onto a busy interstate..."

 https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/curve-wher...

The Amtrak train that derailed Monday morning on its inaugural trip through a faster railway route was supposed to slow dramatically, to 30 mph, before entering the curve where the crash occurred.

"..Daniel Konzelman, who was driving on I-5 south parallel to the train, said he was traveling at 60 mph or more and watched the train pass his vehicle about a half-mile before the crash. A website that monitors locations and speeds of Amtrak trains, transitdocs.com , reported that the train was going about 81 mph shortly before the derailment, The Associated Press reported.

~

https://masscentral.com/at-least-6-dead-in-amtrak-derailment-in-was...

Shortly before the accident, a passenger, Chris Karnes, chairman of the advisory board to Pierce County’s transit agency, took to Twitter  https://twitter.com/TacomaTransit/status/942779005417037824 
to marvel at how fast the train was, noting, “We are passing up traffic on I-5.”

[Juan F Martinez]

Thousands are left stranded at start of Christmas travel rush as power outage at Atlanta causes 'pandemonium' at the world's busiest airport with more than six HUNDRED flights canceled

Tens of thousands of passengers are stranded at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
Power outage has caused more than 600 flights to be cancelled at the airport - the busiest in the world
Blackout halted all outgoing flights, and arriving planes were held on the ground at their point of departure
Delta said more than 450 flights were cancelled; Southwest Airlines has cancelled 70 Atlanta departures
Georgia Power says outage was caused by a fire and it expects power to be restored at the airport by midnight

htmlhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5188889/Power-outage-report...

[M. Difato]

A fire at a Hydro-Québec transformer station in downtown Montreal left thousands of people without power late on Friday afternoon.

 http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/power-outage-hits-downto...

 The fire at the Beaumont power station triggered a protection system at the Dorchester transformer station shutting it down a little before 4:15 p.m.

Power was being gradually restored at 5:30 p.m. 

Around 11,000 Hydro-Québec customers were affected, a spokesperson for the utility told the Montreal Gazette. Montreal City Hall, the Palais de justice and Complexe Desjardins were among the buildings that lost power.

There were several reports on social media of people being stuck in elevators during the power outage..."

[M. Difato]

Smoke Detected in Cockpit, IndiGo Flight Makes Emergency Landing

 http://www.india.com/news/india/indigo-delhi-vizag-flight-makes-eme...

New Delhi,  An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Visakhapatnam returned to Delhi safely and made an emergency landing after smoke was detected in its cockpit on Wednesday, November 22. All the 170 passengers onboard IndiGo 6E719 Delhi-Vizag aircraft are safe..."

~

Emergency landing as smoke fills Spicejet’s Hyd-Jabalpur flight

 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/emergency-landing-a...

 NAGPUR: Passengers on Spicejet's Hyderabad-Jabalpur flight on Friday afternoon (Nov 24) had a lucky escape, when smoke almost filled the cabin mid-air, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing at Nagpur airport.

There were 63 passengers, including two children, on board the Q400 Bombardier aircraft. The crew was made up of two pilots and two air hostesses..."

~

EasyJet flight from Newcastle makes emergency landing in France due to 'technical issue'

 The plane was en route to Malaga when the pilots discovered a possible 'technical issue', forcing them to make an emergency landing (Nov 20)

An Easyjet flight from Newcastle to Malaga was forced to make an emergency landing in France due to a “technical issue”.

Flight EZY6407 took off from Newcastle International Airport at approximately 2.20pm on Monday but the plane began to rapidly descend while flying over the Bay of Biscay and landed at Brest Airport in North West France.

Easyjet said the emergency landing was a precaution, due to a suspected technical issue.

One passenger on Twitter claimed smoke could be smelled inside the cabin.

Neil Acris, who was onboard the flight, said he felt sharp descent and said despite the smell there was no sign of any smoke in the aircraft.

[jorge namour]

Argentina searches for missing navy submarine November 18, 2017

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/17/americas/argentina-submarine-miss...

(CNN)An Argentine navy submarine with 44 crew members has been missing for three days after the navy lost contact with it off the country's Atlantic coast, the military service says.

The ARA San Juan submarine was last spotted Wednesday in the San Jorge Gulf, a few hundred kilometers off the coast of southern Argentina's Patagonia region, the navy said.

Crews are searching for the vessel by air and sea, navy spokesman Enrique Balbi told reporters Friday.
The submarine had been traveling from a base in far southern Argentina's Tierra del Fuego archipelago to its home base in Mar del Plata, a city hundreds of miles to the northeast. The sub's last known location in the San Jorge Gulf is nearly midway between the bases.
The vessel had been due to arrive at its destination Sunday.
Officials hope the crew would bring the sub to the surface, if possible, Balbi said.
"The submarine knows that if it does not have communication with land for this long, it has to surface," Balbi said. CONTINUE...

[M. Difato]

Officials investigate cause of transformer fire at McGuire Nuclear Station

 http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/emergency-crews-on-scene-of-transf...

 HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. - Officials are working to identify the cause of a transformer fire that happened early Wednesday morning (Nov 8) at the McGuire Nuclear Station in Huntersville.

[PHOTOS: Emergency crews on scene of fire at McGuire Nuclear Station]

Video shot by Channel 9 sports anchor Phil Orban as he drove by the station on Highway 73 just before 9 a.m. showed huge plumes of black smoke as well as flames.

The Huntersville Fire Department tweeted that its crews were at the scene and that the fire was confined to a transformer building in a switchyard across the street from the actual plant.

They assisted Duke Energy and laid down foam to cool the transformer. Both of the department's tankers, as well as a tanker from the East Lincoln Fire Department, responded to the scene..."

~

American Airlines flight from Tulsa lands at Dallas destination under emergency conditions

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/state/flight-from-tulsa-lands-abrupt...

 An American Airlines flight that originated in Tulsa landed at its Dallas destination under emergency conditions Wednesday (Nov 8), with passengers reporting they saw smoke and smelled fumes on board.

Flight 1060 experienced a “mechanical issue,” said Linda Brock, a spokeswoman for the airline. The Boeing 737 jet landed safely and taxied to a gate at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, where firefighters came aboard before passengers disembarked.

The plane, carrying 158 passengers and a crew of six, departed Tulsa International Airport about 6:40 a.m..."

~