Power goes out at Oakland airport leaving hundreds of furious airline passengers stranded as the busiest travel week of the year kicks off into chaos

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Power goes out at Oakland airport leaving hundreds of furious airline passengers stranded as the busiest travel week of the year kicks off into chaos

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Oakland Airport

Anda Chu/Digital First Media/East Bay Times via Getty Images

File photo: Air travelers walk through the Oakland International Airport, as a pair outside say their goodbyes in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018.

  • Oakland Airport lost power during rush hour Tuesday night as Thanksgiving travel kicked into full force.
  • The airport said on Twitter that it was working to resolve the issue, but did not provide further information.
  • Users on social media reported that the airport was relying on emergency backup generators.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Oakland Airport lost power during rush hour Tuesday night as Thanksgiving travel kicked into full force.

Users on social media reported that the airport was relying on emergency backup generators. Security screeners were reportedly resorting to full physical bag searches and pat downs, one Twitter user explained.

Users also reported that alarms were sounding, but that there were no announcements or communication from the airport. 

The airport said on Twitter that it was working to resolve the issue, but did not provide further information.

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Some flights appeared to be departing, based on data from FlightRadar24. Some arriving flights appeared to be able to land, while others were diverting to nearby San Jose airport.

Departures from Oakland were averaging delays of 25 minutes shortly into the power outage, while arrivals were delayed an average of 40 minutes, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. Delays were expected to lengthen as the power outage 

Nearly 32 million Americans are expected to travel by air during the 12-day period surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday, from November 22 to December 3, 2019, according to industry trade group Airlines for America (A4A). 2.82 million were forecasted to fly on Tuesday, making it the third-busiest day before the holiday on Thursday.

Air travel across the US was already snarled due to several winter storms impacting Denver, Minneapolis, and Northern California, and Oregon.

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