Electrical fire caused by power surge knocks council systems offline (Apr 28)

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2017-04-28/electrical-fire-ca...

It's thought to have been caused by a power surge. Credit: ITV Anglia.

A small electrical fire started by a power surge has knocked Norfolk County Council’s website, email systems, and telephones offline.

The authority is asking people to only call them in an emergency whilst they get engineers to fix the problem – a task that could take the weekend.

They say their usual emergency numbers are up and running.

~

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Electrical fire forces evacuation of Newburgh school (Apr27)

 http://www.recordonline.com/news/20170427/electrical-fire-forces-ev...

TOWN OF NEWBURGH – Gardnertown Magnet School was temporarily evacuated Thursday afternoon as firefighters

responded to an electrical fire in the basement, according to reports.

The fire took place around noon. Students and staff were reportedly being allowed back in the school by 12:45 p.m.. 

April 29, 2017 A United Airlines flight made an emergency landing Saturday evening in Lubbock after a report of fumes on the plane.
The United Airlines Boeing 737 landed safely about 8:45 p.m. at Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport, according to Lubbock Fire Rescue.
He said the pilot reported fumes in the cockpit, prompting the emergency landing..."
http://lubbockonline.com/news/2017-04-29/united-airlines-flight-mak...

~

April 28, 2017 Plane Makes Emergency Detour To Land At Lpia After Smoke In Cabin 
N Air Canada plane carrying 138 people from Kingston, Jamaica, to Canada had to make an emergency landing at the Lynden Pindling International Airport yesterday after smoke was observed in the cockpit of the plane..."

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2017/apr/28/plane-makes-emergency-de...

~

April 30, 2017 Spirit flight makes emergency landing at KCI after pilots notice odor in the cockpit 
Passengers on a Spirit Airlines flight bound for Las Vegas were forced to make an unexpected pit stop in Kansas City Sunday evening.
A Spirit Airlines spokesman said when this happens, it is procedure for the pilot air masks to deploy. When the pilot air masks deploy, all passenger air masks deploy as well.
That flight landed safely at KCI, and mechanics located a faulty fan in the cockpit causing that odor..."

http://www.kmbc.com/article/saved-by-sandwich-woman-has-life-saving...

~

April 30, 2017 Airport officials with the Spokane International Airport confirmed Sunday that an Air Canada plane made an unexpected landing at their airport.

Officials said around 9:15 a.m. the pilot of the plane declared an emergency landing and landed at the airport after telling them the plane was having a mechanical issue..."

http://www.krem.com/travel/air-canada-plane-makes-emergency-landing...

Underground electrical explosion rocks downtown Toronto and fills the city center with smoke

• Loud blasts rocked downtown Toronto Monday afternoon
• Smoke billowed from under a busy street
• Police said there was a fire in an underground vault holding transformers
• Terrorism is not suspected  

Loud blasts echoed in Toronto's financial district Monday and smoke billowed from under a busy street, disrupting car traffic and subway service.

Fire department officials said a fire erupting around 5pm in an underground vault holding high-voltage transformers was to blame.

Toronto Fire Services said was caused by an overheated hydro vault, reported CBC News. 

Police Constable Allyson Douglas Cook said there were no indications of any terrorism link.

'It's energized, electrical equipment that's in the vault, it overheats, starts melting down ... so that's where you're hearing the crackle and the popping,' Platoon Chief Kevin Shaw told reporters. 'There [were] visible flames out of there probably a half hour ago, but we feel that it's definitely under control now.'

Police block the street as smoke pours into the air following a series of loud blasts were heard in Toronto on Monday

Police said the fire in an underground vault holding transformers was not caused by terrorism

The blast occurred around 5pm, disrupting rush hour traffic and subway service

Brown and black smoke emanated from the street grates, as did purple fire and sparks

Police cleared the normally busy King street in front of the Bank of Nova Scotia headquarters during rush hour. Subways bypassed King Station and streetcars were diverted.

Witnesses said they were heard multiple explosions that rocked the sidewalk beneath them. 

'It definitely sounded like some type of explosion, but not like fireworks. I don't know how to describe it - not like fun, you know what I mean?' eyewitness Mike Amsterdam, who filmed the scene with his phone, said.

The area, which contains five major banks, was temporarily completely shut down

The area is where Toronto's five major banks are headquartered.

Miraculously, no injuries were reported.

Billowing brown and black smoke came from under the street and purple flames were seen poking out of a grate, reported City News.

Sparks could also be seen emanating from multiple grates on the sidewalk.

Carbon dioxide tanks were rushed to the scene to control the fire.

There was a report of power going out at RBC tower at 20 King West and people being evacuated.

'Not like fun, you know what I mean?' a witness said of the sound of the explosions 

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4464224/Blasts-smoke-heart-... 

May 1, 2017 -CHICAGO – An American Eagle flight made an emergency landing at DuPage Airport on Monday morning.

SkyWest flight 2936, operating as American Eagle, was diverted to DuPage Airport shortly after taking off from O'Hare

International Airport after a report of smoke inside the cockpit, according to Marissa Snow of SkyWest Airlines.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/05/01/american-airlines-flight-makes...
~

May 2, 2017 -CHILI, N.Y. (AP) — A Black Hawk helicopter has landed on the ninth hole fairway at a New York country club.

Eric Durr, spokesman for the New York National Guard, says the Army UH-60 Black Hawk was on a routine training flight when it was forced to make an emergency landing Monday afternoon at the Chili (CHY'-leye) Country Club.

Durr says the windshield had developed a crack and its anti-icing system started to short out. He says none of the

crew members were hurt.

The helicopter is assigned to Company C of the 171st medical evacuation battalion.

it was later flown back to the National Guard aviation facility at the Rochester airport.

http://pilotonline.com/news/nation-world/national/army-helicopter-m...  ~

A National Guard helicopter had to make an emergency landing Monday afternoon on a golf course.

http://13wham.com/news/local/helicopter-makes-emergency-landing-on-...

The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDco) says the nationwide blackout experienced

Wednesday night (May 3) almost across the country was as a surge that shutdown generators

in the power system, according to preliminary investigations.

https://www.newsghana.com.gh/gridco-says-nationwide-blackout-caused... 

A statement released here Thursday signed by Albert Kwesi Quainoo, Head of Public Relations said, “GRIDco announces for the information of the general public that the power outages experienced across the country from last night, was as a result of a surge that shutdown generators in the power system.”

Technical teams in the value-chain, the statement notes, have been working to restore power to affected

areas of the country. The power company however assured the public details of the outage will be

communicated upon the completions of preliminary investigations.

“GRIDCo appreciates the inconvenience consumers experienced and will keep the public updated on any

developments on the supply situation.

Details of the cause of the outage will be communicated on completion of preliminary investigations,” the

statement further observed. About 70 percent of the West African country was plunged into total darkness

Wednesday night around 9.40 pm.

Ghana suffered from a similar fate in January 2016.

~

Benicia refinery power failure causes flaring, smoke, evacuations  May 5, 2017

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Flaring-at-Valero-Refinery-in...

A power failure at the Valero Refinery in Benicia on Friday caused major flaring at the plant and sent

plumes of black smoke wafting over the community, prompting the evacuation of a nearby industrial

park and shelter-in-place orders at two elementary schools, officials said.

The blackout was reported about 6:45 a.m. at the refinery at 3400 East Second Street because of an

electrical disruption traced to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. equipment, said Valero spokeswoman Lillian

Riojas.

The blackout occurred during the routine switching of an electric-transmission system, in which power was transferred from one circuit to another, said PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras.

“This resulted in sending product to the flare, an industrial safety device that is normally used to safely

dispose of products in a controlled manner during power outages or other situations,” Riojas said

 “Power, electricity is necessary to run the refinery.”

No injuries were reported. Power was restored by 6:58 a.m., Contreras said, but flaring from the refinery’s

smokestacks continued for several hours. “We are looking into the cause of the outage,” Contreras added.

During the crisis, the Benicia Industrial Park was evacuated, and evacuees were directed to the Benicia

Community Center at 370 East L St., according to city officials. Entrances into the industrial park were

closed, including the off-ramps from Interstate 680, until the evacuation was lifted.

The Benicia Unified School District also ordered a shelter in place for students at Robert Semple

Elementary and Matthew Turner Elementary schools, which was lifted about 1:30 p.m.

Other shelter-in-place advisories for nearby residential areas were called off about 9:15 a.m., but residents

were told to keep doors and windows closed and to bring pets inside, city officials said.

~

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/syracuse_power_outag...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Thousands of people were plunged into darkness Friday night (May 5)

 as power failed in several parts of the city of Syracuse.

National Grid said that just over 6,000 customers were without power, virtually all in Syracuse. The cause of

the power failure was not clear. National Grid said workers were still assessing what caused the outage.

The power failure included about 3,700 customers on the city's North Side. Parts of downtown and an area

near the Inner Harbor were also affected. Half of Destiny USA was also without power, National Grid said.

Workers were preparing to switch customers over to another power source to restore electricity.

National Grid said most customers would have power back before 1 a.m.

~

Substation fire causes power outage in south Las Vegas May 08, 2017  http://www.fox5vegas.com/story/35368400/substation-fire-causes-powe...

 More than 4,200 NV Energy customers were without power Monday after a fire at a substation.

The outage was reported at about 5:40 a.m. in the area of Cactus Avenue and Las Vegas Boulevard. By about 7:30 a.m. a

little more than 900 customers were without power.

NV Energy confirmed the cause of the outage was due to a fire at a substation in the area.

South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa was also impacted by the outage.

According to NV Energy's website, power is expected to be restored by 8:30 a.m.

Further details on the fire were not immediately released. -  (LAS VEGAS ,FOX5) 

DOWNTOWN ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV.com) – Nearly 1,000 people are without power in downtown St. Louis due to an underground explosion. (May 8)

Ameren officials said they are working diligently to restore power to more than 900 people in downtown buildings, including the Magnolia hotel and the Mansion House.

The area affected is from 4th St. in the eastern part of downtown, 9th street, and from Locust to Washington Ave.

Officials said about 12 traffic lights are out, but they brought out a generator to help fix the problem. Ameren hopes to have the lights back up by rush hour on Monday.

There are no injuries are reported at this time.

http://www.kmov.com/story/35371962/nearly-1000-affected-by-downtown...

NYC Subway Delays: Power Outage Causes 'Extensive' Delays, Changes On Tuesday (May 9)

 https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/nyc-subway-delays-power-ou...
 NEW YORK, NY — A power outage at DeKalb Avenue left several major subway lines with "extensive" delays and service changes during the Tuesday morning commute.

Passengers were reporting very crowded and "dangerous" subway platforms shortly before 9 a.m.:

Here's what was going on just after 9 a.m., via the MTA:

There is no B train service between Brighton Beach and Bedford Park Blvd in both directions.

Southbound D trains are running on the C line from 59th Street-Columbus Circle to West Fourth Street-Washington

Square, then via the F line to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue.

Northbound D trains are terminating at 36th Street (Brooklyn).

Expect extensive delays in C, F, N, Q, R and W train service..."

Residents in Southeastern Massachusetts are dealing with a power outage that is impacting more than 20,000 people. (May 12)

 According to National Grid, a total of 31 incidents in the area have caused thousands of people to lose power.

 Seekonk Police said in a tweet that the cause for the outage isn’t known at this time.

 The National Grid website says one of the outages has an estimated restoration of 5:30 p.m., though it’s not clear if that’s a time frame for all affected areas.

This is a developing story; stay with 7News for the latest details as they become available.

http://whdh.com/news/power-outage-in-southeastern-mass-affecting-mo...

~

Power outage plunges parts of Mindanao into darkness (May 13)
 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/896673/power-outage-plunges-parts-of-m...

 ZAMBOANGA CITY – A power outage has plunged parts of Mindanao into darkness on Sunday night.
Beth Ladaga of the National Grid Corporation (NGCP), in advisory, said they were still trying to determine the cause of the blackout.
The power interruption has affected the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, entire Misamis Occidental and parts of Lanao del Norte.
Davao City is also experiencing a blackout.

The whole of Greater Manchester's tram network was shut down on Sunday because of a technical fault.

The whole of Greater Manchester's tram network was shut down on Sunday because of a technical fault.

Control room staff lost visible sight of trams, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said.

A spokeswoman said the failure, which is not being linked to a cyber-attack, was discovered at about 15:50 BST.

The service remained out of action until the end of the day, but transport chiefs said it would be running normally on Monday.

Earlier Metrolink had said it had not yet been able to locate the fault and technicians would be working through the night to resolve the problem.

But shortly after midnight, the firm said: "All tram services are set to operate as normal on Monday morning following a major technical issue on Sunday which affected the network."

'Stranded with children'

On Sunday afternoon, all services stopped with Metrolink saying: "Due to a communication fault, all lines are suspended."

At about 22:00 Metrolink had added: "Technicians will work through the night, but until the fault is identified there is no timescale for recovery of the systems."

Frustrated travellers contacted the BBC to share their stories.

One, who bought tickets just before the service stopped, said: "I was stranded with three small children.

"I ended up having to pay for a taxi which cost me a further £7 on top of my tram ticket."

Another simply described it as "a shambles".

Metrolink apologised for the inconvenience and later said: "Apologies again and thank you for all your patience today."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-39916615

Another Emergency sirens malfunction

 http://fox6now.com/2017/05/15/lomira-officials-emergency-sirens-are...

 Lomira, Wisconsin - Officials in Lomira said the emergency sirens are going off on this Monday, May 15th — and this is a malfunction of the sirens.

The telephone company is trying to fix the issue, officials said.

Officials said this malfunction is not the result of faulty equipment, but a glitch in the telephone communication system.

This is happening at an unfortunate time — with storms moving through Monday evening..."

~

4 trapped in elevators after fire causes power outage in Prescott Valley

https://www.dcourier.com/news/2017/may/17/transformer-fire-causes-p...

 A fire in a transformer at the M&I Windows and Doors facility in the 7500 block of East Highway 69 Wednesday morning caused a widespread power outage in Prescott Valley — which trapped four people in elevators.

Over 1,300 customers were initially affected as power went out around 10:30 a.m., APS spokesman Alan Bunnell said.

Traffic lights were out at intersections around town for a brief time.

Elevators at Yavapai Regional Medical Center’s Del E. Webb Outpatient Center and the Yavapai Community Clinic were stuck between floors and Central Arizona Fire crews had to rescue two people from each of them, Division Chief Rick Chase said.

“They were able to use their key to open the outside doors (at the center) — there’s a special device we have — and, luckily, that elevator was only about a foot off the floor, so they just helped the people out.”

The other elevator was “several feet” from the floor, Davis said, and, the two people in it were a little more difficult to extricate, but they got out safely.

In all, the people were trapped in the elevators for about 30 minutes.

Firefighters didn’t put any water on the transformer fire, but waited for an APS crew to arrive, Davis said, and when a small transformer on a nearby pole ignited and caused a small grass fire, they were able to put it out quickly.

The fire was caught on video by Kathy Fitz; see  dCourier.com to view the video.

Within an hour, APS had all but 42 customers back online as a result of re-routing power, Bunnell said, and, by 2:30 p.m., only one customer remained without electricity.

The area affected was from Lake Shore Drive to Fourth Street and Kings Highway to Bravo Lane.

~

Desert Regional power issues last 32 hours, elective surgeries delayed

 http://www.desertsun.com/story/news/health/2017/05/18/desert-region...
 Elective surgeries in Palm Springs were delayed for a second-consecutive day due to a power outage at Desert Regional Medical Center.

The power outage occurred early Wednesday, hospital spokesman Rich Ramhoff announced Thursday morning. Electricity was restored noon Thursday, a Southern California Edison spokeswoman said.

The hospital had been operating on backup generators. Other hospital services, including its emergency department and trauma center, continued as normal, Ramhoff said.

An unknown number of non-emergency elective surgeries set for Wednesday and Thursday were rescheduled as a precaution, Ramhoff said.

"Certainly rescheduling elective surgeries is an inconvenience for our doctors and our patients," Ramhoff said, "We don't like to see that, but as far as provisions to the community, our generators are prepared for that."

The outage was caused by a transformer problem that only affected the hospital, Ramhoff said.

Desert Regional can run on backup power from its generators for several days, he said.

Southern California Edison crews worked on the outage. The company spokeswoman said the outage occurred around 4 a.m. Wednesday.

~

Window washers trapped high up AXA Tower in Syracuse when fire knocks out power (video)

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2017/05/window_washers_trapp...

 SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Two window washers Monday (May 22) morning suddenly found themselves stuck on a  scaffold, hanging against a building whose basement was on fire in downtown Syracuse.

Reynaldo Ramos, 38, said through a translator that he and his partner were washing the windows -- something that gets done a couple times per season -- on the AXA Tower I building when they smelt something burning.

Not long after they heard a large explosion below, and suddenly the lights inside the tower building went out.

Their scaffold equipment, hovering near the sixth floor, wouldn't move. It runs on electricity, so they were stuck when the power went out.

While employees inside Tower I and along a wing of the complex were evacuated, Ramos and his partner had to sit tight up against the 19-story building and wait to be rescued.

A transformer in an underground electrical vault had caught fire, said Glen Chandler, a district chief of the Syracuse Fire Department. What sparked the electrical fire is still unknown.

Firefighters responded to South Warren Street between East Onondaga / Madison Street and Harrison Street, roping off the block with yellow tape and emergency vehicles.

After the explosion, large clouds of black smoke began pouring up from the ground-level grates along the street, witnesses said. The black smoke eventually lessened to white plumes and eventually stopped.

Firefighters used a ladder to reach the two window washers to make sure they were OK.

The question was how to get the two men down.

Firefighters brought a portable generator up to the window washers to power the scaffolding, Chandler said. The two were stuck for no more than an hour, he said.

The fire below the building eventually burned itself out.

No one was seriously injured during the incident, Chandler said. National Grid is still surveying the transformer and the other electrical mechanisms inside the underground vault..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPGG5Ra_4g 

~

 Oregon,

Live or work in downtown Portland? Expect to  remain without power Tuesday

   http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/05/power_outage_a...

  "..A fire in an underground vault that houses electrical equipment prompted officials to shut down power for

  about 2,200 customers Monday evening, said Pacific Power spokesman Tom Gauntt..."

~

 Nevada, 

 More Than 4,000 Without Power Near Reno-Stead Airport

 http://www.ktvn.com/story/35492408/more-than-4000-without-power-nea...

 More then 4,100 NV Energy customers are without power just south of the Reno-Stead Airport.

 The outage was first reported around 9:30 p.m.

 According the NV Energy's Outage Center, the outage is being caused by an issue with equipment.

Power should be restored by 12:30 a.m.

Bhubaneswar Air India flight makes emergency landing after suspected smoke in cockpit 

 http://badhub.net/2017/05/bhubaneswar-air-india-flight-makes-emerge...

 The flight from Mumbai to Bhubaneswar turned back (May 22) while it was mid-air and landed in Mumbai shortly after takeoff.  However, an Air India spokesperson in New Delhi confirmed that the aircraft made a safe landing and that all passengers were safe.

Sources said that another flight carrying these passengers left Mumbai airport at 4.15 pm and arrive at Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) at 6.40 pm.

Some reports suggest that the smoke was seen coming out of the cockpit at around 14:50 pm, moments after flight started its journey towards Bhubaneshwar.

An Air India spokesperson in a statement said, "AI 669 received the pushback clearance at 1.45 p.m".

The emergency was later withdrawn and the aircraft was parked in a remote bay at the CSMIA. "The fire engines were pressed into service".

{and another}

 Smoke detected in cockpit, Air-India plane makes emergency landing ...

Four people rushed to hospital and 27 others are treated for nausea and dizziness, forcing their plane to make an emergency landing at Orlando airport
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4533118/People-complain-nau...
 * Flight to Bristol returned to Orlando Sanford International Airport on Sunday (May 21)

 *Crew and passengers said they felt sick and air hostesses fainted onboard

 *One passenger claimed smoke from recent bush fire had got into the engine

 *Officials checked air quality of plane, with 287 people, and said it was normal

Four people were rushed to hospital and 27 others were treated for nausea and dizziness after their plane was forced to turn back 45 minutes after take-off.

A Bristol-bound flight made an emergency landing at Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida on Sunday after crew and passengers reported feeling sick.

Officials checked the air quality of the plane, which was carrying 287 passengers, but reported that it was normal and do not know what caused the sickness.
"I was on the back of the plane when the air hostesses fainted,' one female passenger told News6.

Me and my husband were on the last seat and I came over really dizzy and strange. 

They put me on oxygen and I went to the hospital last night and I had tests there.

They said that it could have been the smoke that got into the engines from the bush fires".

'The paramedics came onto the plane to check it and then the firefighters came in and said there were a lot of gases in there.

'I just felt a bit sick and dizzy, lightheaded. I didn't smell anything. I had a funny feeling, I didn't feel normal. 

'I think it could have been easily avoided if they knew there was a bushfire and they had taken a different route.'

Passengers suspected that a four-acre bush fire that blazed near homes in Wedgefield, Florida, on Saturday, caused smoke that got into the plane. 

Firefighters managed to contain the fire, but said they expected smoke to linger for some time.

TUI, the Dutch budget airlines, is investigating the incident, an airport spokesman said..."

~

Yucatán power outage affected 1.7 million

Hospitals managed by relying on emergency power generators.

With no data yet on losses, the most affected appear to have been seafood processing plants located in the coast, where the blackout lasted up to three hours.

To the southwest, in Campeche, over 170,000 people living in the municipalities of Champotón, Calkini, Tenabo, Hecelchakán, Hopelchén and Candelaria were affected by the blackout, which lasted just under an hour.

In the Quintana Roo municipalities of Benito Juárez and Solidaridad, where Cancun and Playa del Carmen are located, the powwer was out for well over three hours.

Mobile phone infrastructure along the Caribbean coast was also affected for the duration of the emergency.

The CFE said the outage originated with a problem in a transmission line between Tabasco and Campeche.

~

Faulty equipment to blame for massive power outage across Sydney (May26)
 http://www.9news.com.au/national/2017/05/26/16/39/thousands-without...

 Power has been safely restored to 60,000 homes and businesses and the M5 tunnel after a mass blackout across Sydney  this afternoon.

Faulty equipment inside an Ausgrid substation in south western Sydney is to blame for a massive power outage which closed both directions of the M5 East tunnel during peak hour, causing traffic chaos on Sydney streets.
The power failure in Canterbury happened just as thousands of commuters were trying to get home or travel into the city for Vivid, the AFL at the SCG and to ANZ Stadium for the NRL.

Up to 100 sets of traffic lights were also blacked out in Croydon, Canterbury, Bexley, Roselands, Kingsgrove, Wolli Creek, Mascot and Burwood Heights.

The power started to return about 6pm, with the M5 East tunnel westbound re-opening and the eastbound tunnel re-opening about 6.30pm.

However, it was a close call - with the tunnel minutes away from losing all battery back-up, which would have meant a reboot for the whole system, roads minister Melinda Pavey told 2GB.

"It's going to be a long time to clear the mess but we were also looking at maybe a six to eight-hour window of it being closed," she said.

With kilometres of traffic backed up across the city as a result of the outage, Ms Pavey advised motorists to "stay in the city as long as you can - delay your trip or at least catch a train home"..."

Power outage causes traffic chaos in Sydney

~ 

Blown transformer kills power to Marina del Rey area 

 (May25)  http://www.dailybreeze.com/general-news/20170525/blown-transformer-...

 A power outage was affecting the Marina del Rey area Thursday night.

 The outage was caused by a blown Southern California Edison transformer, according to a sergeant at the  sheriff’s Marina del Rey Station.

A witness reported about 8 p.m. that traffic was jammed, stop lights and street lights were out and some stores were closed on Lincoln Boulevard near Washington Boulevard.

No one from the utility was immediately available to provide additional details.

~

British Airways cancels Heathrow, Gatwick flights after systems outage

May 27, 2017

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/27/world/british-airways-computer-fa...

London (CNN)British Airways has canceled all flights from London's two biggest airports for at least several hours after experiencing "a major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide," the airline said Saturday.

Passengers wait Saturday at London's Heathrow Airport as British Airways experiences computer problems.

"There's no evidence it's a cyberattack," airline officials said.
Flights before 1 p.m. ET (6 p.m. BST) were canceled, with more cancellations possible.

"The terminals at Heathrow and Gatwick have become extremely congested and we have cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick before 6pm UK time today, so please do not come to the airports," British Airways said in a statement.
"We will provide more information on ba.com, Twitter and through airport communication channels as soon as we can for flights due to depart after that time."

In response to tweets from travelers, it said that it was experiencing a "global system outage" which was affecting its website, online check-in, contact centers and baggage tracing.
"Working on this as a matter of priority, but if your flight is departing tomorrow you may have to complete check in at the airport," it tweeted to one customer.

Airline workers 'totally crippled'

Travelers on this spring bank holiday weekend in Britain were already reporting disruptions, including baggage and flight delays, when the airline reported serious computer problems around midday. CONTINUE...

Local air regulators have opened a new investigation into Valero’s Benicia refinery after another malfunction at the facility sent black smoke into the air three times over the weekend (May 28).

 The flaring comes close to a month after the refinery experienced its first full outage in decades, resulting in toxic gases being released into the atmosphere.

One of the refinery’s units had some sort of release on Sunday 

afternoon, according to Benicia city officials, as the facility continues to struggle to fully restart its operations.

Unlike the incident in early May, there were no shelter-in-place orders, evacuations and hospitalizations.

But state officials normally notified of similar refinery problems were not told about the latest incident. And the city and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District are unaware of what chemicals were sent into the air because of it.

“That is part of the problem — we don’t know what is released,” Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson said in an email Tuesday.

Valero is not releasing detailed information about Sunday’s malfunction, but it is linking it with the problem earlier in the month that sent flames, smoke and toxic gas into the sky.

“Valero’s Benicia refinery continues to work to restore operations following the May 5 power outage caused by  disruption from Pacific Gas & Electric,” said company spokeswoman Lillian Riojas in an email almost identical to one she  sent to KQED two weeks ago about another release.

 “Intermittent flaring and related startup issues may occur,” Riojas said.

 The problem was tied to Valero’s scrubber unit, city officials said.

That unit acts as a large filter, cleaning up gas or liquid that exits a processing unit, according to Tulane professor Eric Smith, who specializes in gas and oil production.

The refinery sent black smoke that came from oil residue into the sky on three occasions Sunday afternoon, each one lasting between 15 and 45 seconds, said Benicia Fire Chief Jim Lydon.

The air district then sent an inspector to the facility, according to Tom Flannigan, a spokesman for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.

“This new incident that happened over the weekend may have been tied to them testing out their equipment and their processes as they bring them back up to speed,” Flannigan said in an interview Tuesday.

The district has already issued six notices of violation against Valero in connection with the May 5 outage.

“We did see some dark black smoke that was released for a period of time,” Flannigan said. “We’ll be taking a close look to see what exactly what was emitted and if they’re subject to any fines.”

Unlike a series of releases that took place at the refinery in the days after the outage, Sunday’s incident was not reported to the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, which administers a hazardous materials notification database. You can see the Valero outage notifications here.

In fact, state air regulators were not kept in the loop either.

“We have nothing new, and nothing new was reported to Cal OES over the weekend,” said David Clegern, a spokesman for the California Air Resources Board, which has had air monitors in place near the refinery since the outage.

The outage is under investigation by a third party hired by PG&E, the air 

district, California’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) and Solano County’s Department of Resource Management.

The county is investigating another incident that may be tied to the aftermath of the outage. On May 15, several people who work at MRC Global, a company on Bayshore Road not too far away the refinery, found an “oil-based” substance on their cars.

A hazardous materials specialist conducted tests on the vehicles, according to Terry Schmidtbauer, director of Solano County’s Department of Resource Management.

City and county officials asked Valero to take the vehicles to a car-wash, Schmidtbauer said.

The electricity failure at the refinery and resulting safety concerns have prompted a push for Benicia to develop an industrial safety ordinance similar to one that governs refineries in Contra Costa County. And it also led Mayor Patterson to call for the city to do a better job of telling its residents about major emergencies.

Source:  https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/05/30/air-district-investigating-lat...

Subway Ride From Hell: Desperate Straphangers Stuck in Sweltering, Powerless Train Car Try to Break Out

 http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Subway-Train-From-Hell-Pulls-U...

 This is what happens when the New York City subway literally feels like hell.

 Desperate straphangers stuck for nearly an hour in a powerless subway car with no air conditioning tried to break out of an F train at Manhattan's Broadway-Lafayette station Monday evening (May 5), video posted to Twitter shows.

The woman who captured the video from the platform said passengers were "dripping with sweat, begging to get off."

People inside the train were barely visible from the fogged-up windows, video shows. Fingers and hands jammed their way through the seal of the car doors, attempting to force them open.

When the doors finally opened, the heat bottled inside the train was palpable as people tumbled off while yelling, "Do not get on this train," according to the woman who took the video. 

The video quickly went viral, getting retweeted nearly 1,000 times in three hours. One horrified observer said it was "traumatizing" to watch the video.

"MTA, this is crazy. Someone could have died in that heat,"  said another.

"THIS IS ABSOLUTE MADNESS," someone else tweeted.

One stuck rider recounted the "very memorable yet not so fun" experience in a public Facebook post.

"First, we were told it was train traffic ahead of us (you know that lie all too well). As we waited with no further

communication, people started getting very worried. Almost everyone began fanning themselves with paper... Beads of

sweat began rolling down people's faces," wrote Michael Sciaraffo. 

People opened side windows and pried open the doors as much as they could, jamming them open with books, just so they could get cross ventilation from passing trains, he said. 

"Coats started getting removed, and then people were sweating so much from standing in this crowded oven that

people started taking off shirts and some pants," said Sciaraffo. "One lady disrobed while others covered her with a

jacket so no one could see."

"Some people started getting faint, and we started to identify any elderly people or pregnant women on the car who

were standing or needed water so they could sit and drink," he said. "Claustrophobia, panic and heat exhaustion began

to set in for many folks. At this point, windows started getting steamed up."

Sciaraffo said after about a half hour of "heightened anxiety," a conductor finally announced what happened: there was a "severe maintenance malfunction" and the train was unable to move. 

"At this point, we began to discuss making decisions about how we were going to evacuate, who would go first and who would need help," he wrote.

That's when the train began to jerk slightly -- another train from behind had started to push it ahead into the next station.

But the nightmare was far from over: once the train pulled into Broadway-Lafayette, riders had to wait another 10 minutes, sweating in the dark, as authorities tried to clear the "mob" of people that had filled the platform. 

"People started to yell things like, 'Please get me off' and 'I feel sick,'" said Sciaraffo. 

Transit sources say the F train had a power outage on the tracks while the train was in the tunnel, and confirmed the outage lasted about 45 minutes. No one was injured, and the incident is under investigation..." 

~ another source~

"F" Train Breaks Down In Manhattan, Passengers Stranded For An Hour!

Read more: http://710wor.iheart.com/onair/len-berman-todd-schnitt-in-the-55864...

SEATTLE — Smoke was reported in the cabin of an Air Canada flight arriving at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport Thursday (June 8).

Upon descending into Seattle, the crew of flight Air Canada Express 8301 detected a “haze in the cabin” and requested an emergency landing.

The emergency vehicles met and inspected the Bombardier Q400 aircraft and found no fire.

Seventy-four passengers and 4 crew members onboard deplaned safely and were bussed to the terminal.

No injuries were reported.."

~

Flight attendants worked quickly to check the overhead bins for the source of the smoke, but did not appear to find it, Hudson told Reuters via Twitter direct message.

The mood aboard was subdued but tense during the incident, Hudson said, as crew members announced that an emergency had been declared. Some passengers quietly prayed before landing, she added.

Airport crews were notified of the emergency about 15 minutes before landing, Cooper said.

He added that the cause of the smoke is under investigation. He declined to say how many passengers were evacuated.

The Dash 8 is a short- and medium-range turboprop plane which can carry between 37 and 86 people, depending on the model, according to Bombardier's website.

Representatives from Air Canada did not immediately respond to requests for comment..."

Sources: 

http://q13fox.com/2017/06/08/haze-in-cabin-prompts-emergency-landin...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-air-canada-landing-idUSKBN18Z2H6

~

Korean Air plane makes emergency landing after smoke fills cockpit 

 http://english.astroawani.com/world-news/korean-air-plane-makes-eme...

 TOKYO: A Korean Air plane made an emergency landing on Friday (June 9) at Fukuoka airport, in southwestern Japan, after smoke  filled the cockpit, according to the airport's operator, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

The Boeing 737 which originated from Busan in South Korea made the landing at around 10:20 a.m. local time.

The operator reported that there were no injuries to any of the 153 passengers or nine crew members as a result of the smoke or the landing.

Fire engines standing by were not needed to discharge water or foam on the aircraft.

The incident caused some delays to arrivals at the airport.

Major blackout hits Seoul, Gyeonggi

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/common/vpage-pt.asp?categorycode=28...

 A major blackout hit southwestern Seoul, Sunday (June 10), inconveniencing more than 190,000 households   in the capital  and southern Gyeonggi Province.

 According to the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) and local governments, the blackout happened at 12:53  a.m. following a malfunction at the Yeongseo power substation in Gwangmyeong, and lasted almost two hours.

KEPCO said emergency crews finished work at 1:15 p.m. to restore power through the nearby Sinyangjae substation.

Affected regions included Gwangmyeong City in Gyeonggi Province and Guro-gu, Gumcheon-gu, Gwanak-gu and Yeongdeungpo-gu in Seoul. Some areas have yet to have their supply restored.

Almost 200 traffic lights stopped working, causing confusion to drivers and pedestrians. However, with police controlling traffic through hand signals, no accidents were reported.

There were 410 calls to police and fire stations for help from people trapped inside elevators.

Emergency calls also included reports on electricity sparks near transformers.

More than 30 teams were sent to two locations where residents mistook smoke from an emergency power supply system as signs of a fire.

Many emergency reports were made from Techno Mart in Sindorim, Guro, Seoul. A wedding scheduled there at 1 p.m. was delayed, and people left the building without incident.

Moviegoers inside Lotte Cinema, Gasan, demanded refunds after movie theaters lost power.

Local governments received calls from restaurants and other shopping malls saying they suffered financial losses after refrigerated food went bad.

Other calls included some credit card readers failing.

KEPCO Chairman Cho Hwan-ik issued an apology.

"KEPCO is wholly responsible for the blackout and we offer our apologies for causing inconvenience to the public who had been enjoying their weekend," he said.

"We will operate an emergency control center to monitor the situation and swiftly compensate people for financial losses," he added.

~

Brussels airport EVACUATED - thousands face travel chaos as terminal plunged into darkness

BRUSSELS Airport has been evacuated leading to flight delays and cancellations and travel chaos for thousands of passengers.

Horrified travellers  have complained of being left in "total darkness" at Zaventem International in the Belgian capital.

Many others have been told they can not leave and planes have been grounded as a result.

Local media is reporting that the airport has been paralysed by the electrical outage.

Passenger Inge Meensel told radio2.be: “We were supposed to leave at 6am but we are still outside the entrance. There is a power failure.

“It’s weird. Everybody thinks immediately of a terrorist attack, but that is not the case.”

Roads around the airport are gridlocked with cars and buses unable to drop people off because of the huge number of passengers waiting to get in.

Read more: http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/817344/Brussels-airport-evacuat...

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/britains-heathrow-airport-says-bagga...

Britain's Heathrow Airport says baggage handling disrupted at two terminals

LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - Europe's biggest airport London Heathrow said some passengers might have to travel without their bags on Thursday after an issue with its baggage system affected Terminals 3 and 5.

"Heathrow is currently experiencing an issue with its baggage systems which is affecting airlines operating from Terminal 3 and Terminal 5. Other terminals are unaffected," Heathrow said in a statement.

"This may mean passengers will travel without their bags, and we advise them to pack essential items in their hand luggage."

Heathrow said it was investigating the issue and would get the system running again as soon as possible.

Heathrow suffered massive disruption last month after a power surge knocked out British Airways' IT system, stranding 75,000 passengers over a holiday weekend.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Kate Holton)

Fault Causes Island-Wide Blackout

 http://www.tribune242.com/news/2017/jun/16/fault-causes-island-wide...

 BAHAMAS Power and Light yesterday blamed Thursday’s (June 15) island-wide outage on a “cable failure” and  reassured customers that the utility provider would find “immediate solutions to this problem and long-term s  strategies to prevent a recurrence.”

According to a statement on the company’s Facebook page, the power outage occurred just before 3pm and by 4pm, Bahamas Power and Light (BPL) said the company began restoration efforts.

Bahamas Power and Light Company Limited has begun restorations in New Providence following an island-wide outage just before 3pm on Thursday, June 15,” the statement said.

Early indications show that a cable fault was responsible for the system failure; however, BPL will carry out a complete investigation once its system has stabilised. BPL apologises to its customers and assures them that it is working to find immediate solutions to this problem and long-term strategies to prevent a recurrence.”

Scores of BPL customers expressed their anger and frustration on the island-wide outage on the company’s Facebook page.

One customer wrote: “Please educate me why you are the only utility company (that) doesn’t reimburse for not receiving full service? Why? This is crap. I pay you guys in full every month and in the summer the power goes off frequently with no compensation. It is hot in case you didn’t realise. I have been hearing about these generators and equipment for years. It’s not hard to do better.”

Another person wrote: “Apology not accepted, too many inconveniences and inconsistencies with no compensation and/or reimbursements yet y’all quick to turn off a consumer’s power if their bill is over a hundred dollars. You really need to do better.”

Last month, BPL expressed “confidence” in its readiness to take on the peak summer months with its higher power generation capability.

At the time, BPL said while it expected the needed power generation this summer to peak at 255 megawatts, its current generation availability is over 345mw. This is 90mw higher than the demand expected this summer, BPL said..."  

~

Hazmat crews called out after chemicals slip into air following power outage in Akron

 http://www.cleveland.com/akron/index.ssf/2017/06/hazmat_crews_calle...

 AKRON, Ohio -- A hazardous materials crew responded to a chemical leak that sprung after a power outage in  Akron.

 The incident began about 1 a.m. (June 16) at Emerald Performance Materials at 240 W. Emerling Ave. in South Akron, Akron Fire Department spokesman Mike Brooks said.

The plant was evacuated and all of the workers were accounted for. Brooks said it appears that no one was hurt.

The vapor released in the air contained acrylic nitrile and butudiene which are both flammable and toxic, Brooks said.

Readings taken at 4:30 a.m. found no traces of the chemicals in the air surrounding the plant, Brooks said.

Nearby residents were not evacuated, Brooks said.

The Akron Metro RTA shut down its bus service temporarily and was up and running again just before 5 a.m.

Navy plane passengers safe after emergency landing (June 16, 2017)

A dozen people are safe after billowing smoke in a naval aircraft cabin prompted an emergency landing at Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport earlier this afternoon.

A U.S. Navy Lockheed P-3 Orion originally headed south with 12 people on board landed safely in Medford about 2:30 p.m. Friday, some 25 minutes after it made a distress call, according to Airport Director Bern Case.

“They had quite a bit of smoke on board,” Case said.

http://www.mailtribune.com/news/20170616/navy-plane-passengers-safe...

https://www.planespotters.net/photo/262651/162315-us-navy-lockheed-...

Investigations continuing as explosion causes power to go out in Beverley town centre. Location is near Hull, East Yorkshire UK.

Investigations are continuing this morning after an "explosion" in Beverley caused nearly 160 properties power to suddenly cut out.

Witnesses reported hearing the "huge" bang at about 9pm on Saturday night, with town centre shops electricity failing.

Northern Powergrid confirmed the explosion was in a substation in Toll Gavel, in the town centre.

Engineers were called to the scene and had restored power to all 159 properties affected via a generator in the early hours the following morning.

A spokesman for the company said: "We have got all customers back on supply via generators by about 1.30am.

"We are still investigating what caused it at the moment. There will be further investigations to be carried out to get that replaced or repaired depending on what we find out.

"But everyone is back up with a supply through a generator."

Residents said people spilled out onto the town centre's streets after hearing the loud bang.

"Heard a huge explosion which scared the crap out of me," one said.

"It was so loud it brought everybody out onto street and set alarms off.

Source: http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/investigations-continuing-as-explosi...

Cellphone, internet outages reported across the U.S.

 Last Updated Jun 19, 2017 10:16 PM EDT, http://www.cbsnews.com/news/cell-phone-internet-outages-reported-ac...

Smoke in cabin forces SAS plane to make emergency landing in Poland

 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-scandnvn-air-sys-emergency-landin...

 A Scandinavian Airlines Systems plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Gdansk, Poland, shortly after  takeoff on Tuesday (June 20)  due to smoke in the cabin, the airline said.

Eighty eight passengers and five crew members were evacuated upon landing and were unharmed, SAS spokesman Knut Morten Johansen said, adding that it was unclear what had caused the smoke.

The Airbus 319 had been due to fly from Gdansk to Copenhagen, and had been scheduled to arrive in the Danish capital at 0550 GMT, he said.

~

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/15358470.UPDATED__Electrical_cable_...

UPDATED: Electrical cable 'explodes' under York street, leaves 2,182 homes without power

6 20 2017

FLAMES burst from a York street after an underground electrical cable 'exploded' this morning, cutting power to more than 2,000 homes.

Part of Upper Price Street, off Scarcroft Road, has been charred by the incident,which happened earlier this morning, and alarms have been sounding all morning.

Initial reports suggested the incident was due to a gas explosion, but Northern Powergrid later confirmed the problem was caused by an underground cable.

A spokeswoman said 2,182 properties were affected by "a fault on our underground cable network" at 8.56am.

She said: "By diverting electricity through alternative routes on our network we restored power to 1,075 customers with four minutes.

"A further 834 customers were restored by 11.22am and the remaining 275 customers affected had their power restored by 12.25pm. We thank our customers for their patience."

Helen Milner, owner of The Farthings guest house in nearby Nunthorpe Avenue, said power to her business had cut out at just before 9am.

She said: "Some guests were leaving and came back and said 'I think you need to call somebody, the street opposite looks like it's exploded and there are flames coming out of it'."

Local residents phoned the emergency services, with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and North Yorkshire attending, along with Yorkshire Water and Northern Powergrid. The fire service left the scene at just after 10.30am, but police and electrical engineers remain at the scene.

The explosion burst through the road surface next to a fire hydrant access point in the road, leaving charred tarmac in the street.

The road was cordoned off by police, and City of York Council have just announced the road will remain closed until midnight on Monday, June 26, to allow emergency electricity works to be carried out.

An alternative route for diverted traffic will be signed during the works period, and traffic signs and barriers will be in place.

Signal Problems, Again, Turn Subway Commute Into Nightmare

 - Problems started around 6:20 a.m. and rapidly intensified, with major delays for the peak morning commute   

 - The MTA said the delays stemmed from signal problems at the busy Herald Square station in Manhattan

 - Frantic riders desperately tried to find alternatives; two men even jumped out of a subway and tried to walk the    tracks, witnesses said

Delay-weary straphangers endured yet another morning of crippling service changes Tuesday (June 20) , with at

least one rider so desperate to escape delays he tried walking subway tracks to get to work on time, witnesses

said. Once again, signal problems appeared to be the primary cause of the nightmare...."

Source: Signal Problems, Again, Turn Subway Commute Into Nightmare | NBC Ne... http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Signal-Problems-Service-Change... 

Pavement explodes in Old Street [London, UK] due to electrical fire (June 19, 2017)

Witness Mark J. Douglas wrote on Twitter: “So a section of the footpath just exploded on #oldstreet and the power went out. Pretty sure just an electric fault, but scary!”

OLD STREET closed between CURTAIN ROAD and SHOREDITCH HIGH STREET due to an electrical fire, please avoid the area if possible. Thank you.

— Hackney Police (@MPSHackney)

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/pavement-explodes-in-old-stree...

https://twitter.com/MPSHackney/status/876841594254708736

Generators on standby on Gold Coast as Energex figures out Broadbeach blackout (June 22, 2017)

 Traffic chaos at Broadbeach [Australia] after mass blackouts.

Energex spokesman Danny Donald said supply was cut to all of the 11,700 customers serviced by the Broadbeach substation when two earthing transformers at the facility failed about 4.30pm on Friday.

“We lost the entire Broadbeach substation. We had a fault on both of the earthing transformers,” he said.

“What caused that fault, we are still unsure. We are investigating that right now.

“Most of our senior engineers have never seen anything like that before. It was completely unprecedented.

Mr Donald ruled out overloading as the cause.

He said power consumption on Friday was nowhere near the peak loading record set earlier this year.

“It wasn’t a peak demand issue,” he said.

“We’re in the middle of winter. That’s when the least amount of pressure is on the network.

“Our peak season is in summer. We experienced record peak loading in February this year.”

Mr Donald said plant and equipment at the Broadbeach substation was updated ”all the time”.

“We’re always doing a lot of work on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“We’re always upgrading the network to cope with growth.”

http://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/gold-coast/generators-on-s...

Shoppers left in the dark as 313@somerset mall hit by blackout (June 22, 2017)

Orchard Road shopping mall 313@somerset [Singapore] was hit by a blackout which lasted slightly over an hour on Thursday.

Social media was abuzz with pictures and videos of the blackout, which apparently affected all eight floors of the mall.

Ms Cheryl Goh, the mall's general manager...explained that the blackout was due to a power trip.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/shoppers-left-in-the-dark-as-...

http://counton2.com/2017/06/23/jetblue-flight-makes-emergency-landi...

JetBlue flight makes emergency landing in Charleston

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) — A JetBlue flight en route to Fort Lauderdale made an emergency landing in Charleston, Friday morning.

Details are limited but we do know the flight originated from White Plains, New York.

JetBlue #913 declared an emergency after smoke was found in the cockpit, according to officials with the Charleston Aviation Authority.

All 97 people on board were evacuated as a precaution.

and another:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/06/23/national/smoke-cabin-pr...

Smoke in Delta cabin prompts Incheon-Atlanta flight to make emergency landing at Haneda

Delta Flight 26, which left Incheon airport at 6:30 p.m., was over the Pacific Ocean just past 9 p.m. Thursday when smoke and the scent of something burning was detected in the cabin, the fire department said, adding that the plane made an emergency landing at Haneda at around 10:40 p.m.

http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20170625/power-restored-to-20...

Power restored to 2,000 in Sylmar after explosions hit DWP facility

Posted: 06/25/17, 11:01 AM PDT

Firefighters respond to a fire at a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility Saturday night following a series of explosions in Sylmar. Photos by Rick McClure

SYLMAR >> Power was restored to 2,000 Sylmar residents after a series of explosions hit a Los Angeles Department of Water and Power facility on Saturday night, authorities said.

The incident was reported around 11:30 p.m. at the facility located at 13101 Glenoaks Boulevard in Sylmar, authorities said, with 2,000 customers initially affected.

DWP spokeswoman Carol Tucker said on Sunday she did not have the total number of residents affected by the incident but said 1,881 had their power restored within an hour and a half of the incident. Others affected by the outage had their power restored within 15 minutes, Tucker said.

A series of explosions at the facility caused the power to go out while a report at the scene added Los Angeles firefighters knocked a fire down with several transformers on fire after one exploded.

Residents without power were located near Glenoaks Boulevard and Roxford Street, according to reports.

Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department said on Sunday firefighters responded Saturday night to investigate a fire at the facility and there were no injuries. DWP supervisors later met firefighters at the scene and then took over control of the incident, Humphrey said.

Tucker said the cause of the incident was equipment failure.

Terrifying moment an AirAsia flight starts shaking 'like a washing machine' mid-air before the pilot tells 359 passengers to PRAY for survival

• An AirAsia plane flying to from Perth to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn back
• The pilot reportedly discovered a single engine failure and returned to Perth
• Passengers said the plane shook so violently they thought it would go down
• 'It was shuddering. We all thought, you know, we're just going to go down' 
• The plane landed safely in Perth on Sunday following the distressing ordeal 
• Passengers were left stranded at Kuala Lumpur due to missed connecting flights

By Kate Darvall and Hannah Moore For Daily Mail Australia

PUBLISHED: 20:22 EDT, 25 June 2017 | UPDATED: 21:00 EDT, 25 June 2017

Footage has emerged showing the terrifying moment an AirAsia flight with 359 people on board started to shake violently. 

Flight D7237 departed Perth Airport shortly before 7am on Sunday on its way to Malaysia but was forced to turn back due to 'technical issues' less than two hours into the trip.

Passengers on the flight reportedly heard a loud bang before the plane started to tremble.  

Footage taken by one passenger shows him staring into the camera with a stunned look on his face as the plane shakes through the air. 

Speaking to Channel Seven, Malik Mascarenhas said he feared for his life. 

'The plane was really really limping home, it was shuddering, shuddering, shuddering. We all thought, you know, we're just going to go down,' he said.  

Fellow passenger known only as Tim said there were 'lots of people crying, lots of people pulling out their life jackets'. 

'Pretty much preparing. We thought there was a good chance we were going to go down,' he said. 

In terrifying on-board footage, the AirAsia captain can be heard asking passengers to stay vigilant. 

'Please pay attention and also please listen to everything, our survival depends on your cooperation,' he said. 

Passenger Sophie Nicolas said she could tell the situation was 'really bad' judging by the cabin crew's reaction. 

'He said 'I hope you all say a prayer, I will be saying a prayer too and let's hope we all get back home safely',' she said. 

Passenger Brenton Atkinson told ABC News the plane had been shaking 'pretty bad' when the plane decided to turn back 'about an hour and a half' into the journey.  

'It was essentially the engine seized up I think, that's what they told us anyway,' the 24-year-old said. 

He reported there was a small explosion before the plane returned to Perth.

'The whole thing, the plane started vibrating and shaking pretty bad, and we had to turn around and come back,' he said.

'It was literally like you were sitting on top of a washing machine.'

When the plane landed and passengers disembarked, Mr Atkinson says he realised 'one of the blades had actually come off the turbine'. 

Perth teachers Damos Stevens and Mitch Jamieson filmed themselves sitting on the aeroplane as it shook through the air.

Mr Stevens is heard on the video, which shows the harsh vibrations of the plane, saying: 'We'll be having 60million beers when we get back'.

He told Daily Mail Australia the pilot said to 'say a prayer for us' as the plane returned to Perth.

'No one was hysterical but people were really scared. Some people needed medical attention when we landed,' he said.

While the teacher says communication on the plane was fantastic, he was less enthused about the airline's ability to communicate with passengers when they disembarked the plane. 

'[There has been] no support for passengers, there is still a long line of people here, no word on replacement flights,' he said.  

A recovery flight was organised to take the passengers from Perth to Kuala Lumper at 8.30pm on Sunday, but many passengers said they were left stranded due to missed connecting flights. 

Iran national Rasool Zareie told Nine News he was given a $20 voucher at the airport and two nights' accommodation, but was left in the dark about when he and his family could fly.

'We were standing in queues for three and a half hours,' he said. 

'When I asked them, "What should we do?" they had nothing to say. That was very annoying.' 

Passenger Saya Mae shared a video of the shaky footage to Instagram and captioned it: 'I thought I might die'.  

A spokesman for Perth Airport told Daily Mail Australia the pilot reported technical issues and decided to return to Perth.

'We had emergency services on site as a precaution, and the plane landed safely around 10am this morning,' he said.

'The passengers have disembarked.' 

The airline said investigations were ongoing.   

Flight Radar shows the plane had reached Carnarvon when it decided to return to Perth Airport. 

A statement from AirAsia said passengers were being attended to by ground staff and 'all necessary assistance' was being provided. 

'Flight crew are taking precautionary measures to check the aircraft and some guests on board the flight will be transferred to the next available flight today,' the statement said. 

'Other guests will be informed of the progress of the flight.

'The safety of our guests are our utmost priority.' 

The technical issues on-board the flight are the most recent in a string of incidents to plague AirAsia.

An AirAsia aircraft plummeted into the sea when it stalled on a flight from Surabaya to Singapore on December 28, 2014, killing all 162 passengers on board the flight. 

An AirAsia flight from Sydney to Kuala Lumpur flew in the wrong direction and crossed paths with an adjacent parallel runway at Sydney Airport on March 10, 2015. 

The captain of the flight reportedly entered the wrong longitude into the system. 

On February 19, 2016, an AirAsia aircraft flying from Bali to Perth, flew 300m too low in severe turbulence. 

The aircraft fell by 60km/h to just above stalling speed. 

In March the same year there was a near miss reported between an AirAsia flight and Jetstar plane. 

This graphic shows the flight path of the AirAsia plane on Sunday morning

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4638254/AirAsia-plane-turns...

Commuters were stuck underground for over an hour during Monday's morning rush hour after a major power failure crippled three Tube lines.

Tube trains on the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines ground to a halt in tunnels between stations following the signal system shutdown at Earl’s Court station.

Josh Phillips, who was travelling to work at Warner Music in Kensington, told the Standard his westbound Circle line train was stranded underground for an hour just before Victoria station.

“The driver was doing his best but you could tell he didn't really know what was happening,” Mr Phillips said.

“He kept saying he was trying to get hold of someone but he couldn't and that every single train was stuck on a red signal.”

Mr Phillips said it was “pretty chaotic on board” and added: “Babies crying, people getting really angry.”

The train eventually started moving again and arrived at Victoria station but above ground “the buses were really crazy”, Mr Phillips said.

Heather Bonney, who was stuck on a Piccadilly line train, said: “We’ve been stuck on a train outside Ealing Common for almost an hour – PLEASE can we get detrained, it’s sweltering in here.”

Another passenger, called Jocelyn-Jane Taylor, said she was stuck on a non-moving District line train outside of Parson’s Green for more than an hour.

Steve White, operations director for London Underground, promised automatic refunds for passengers. He said: “We are very sorry for the disruption caused to customers this morning which was due to a power network failure in the Earl’s Court area at around 9.30am.  

Read more: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/furious-commuters-stuck-un...

Islandwide Blackout [Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands] (June 26, 2017)

An oil splash monitoring system failure on one engine at Power Plant 1 was behind the islandwide power outage that started at 2:35am last Saturday.

The original cause of the outage—the oil splash monitoring system—was a recent upgrade by the engine’s manufacturer...

After a few hours, CUC’s power system was secured and the assessment process began. Once that was completed, restoration of the island power supply started. However, there were some technical problems, starting with a station service generator.

“Once those repairs on the generator were completed, the restoration of the feeders began... The repairs went through challenges such as the electrical problems…"

“At 4:15pm, repairs were completed and the engines were put online..."

https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/engine-failure-causes-islan...

Huge fire in middle of Cardiff city centre as electrical substation near car park goes up in flames (June 26, 2017)

Head of Joint Fire Control for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service Jennie Griffiths said 8 fire engines, with 3 water bowsers and 2 aerial bladders were in attendance.

"The fire involves an external power sub station and industrial bins which has heavily smoke logged a 3 storey adjacent bldg," she tweeted.

Some businesses nearby have reported suffering power cuts.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/huge-fire-middle-cardiff-city-...

Electrical fire sees Govan residents evacuated as smoke billows across Glasgow (June 26, 2017)

Firefighters rushed to the scene in the Riverside scheme and are tackling flames coming from a burnt-out electricity distribution box.

The incident has seen smoke billow across Glasgow [United Kingdom] while the locals have been affected by a widespread power-cut.

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/electrical-fire-see...

Blackout Roils Phnom Penh, 21 Provinces (June 28, 2017)

A fault in electrical transmissions knocked out power to Phnom Penh and 21 of Cambodia’s 24 provinces on Tuesday, disrupting municipal water supplies, interrupting trading in the capital’s markets and leading to renewed calls for the country to further develop its own power generation.

Electricite du Cambodge (EDC), the country’s monopoly energy supplier, did not provide an explanation for the outages, saying only in a Facebook post that there had been an issue at a substation in Takeo province.

According to EDC and the Electricity Authority of Cambodia, the Takeo substation is a key link between Phnom Penh and Vietnam, just 50 km away, from where Cambodia imports a significant portion of its electricity supply.

Large swaths of the country intermittently lost power for more than about two hours [about 2pm to 4pm].

https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/blackout-roils-phnom-penh-21-pro...

Edinburgh Airport suffers power outage (June 28, 2017)